Insider raises serious question about Trey Lance’s NFL future
The deck has seemingly been stacked against Trey Lance since the San Francisco 49ers drafted him No. 3 overall in 2021.
Many have already given up on Lance just three years into his career, and during a recent appearance on the “49ers Talk” podcast, NBC Sports’ Peter King questioned if Lance even has a long-term future in the NFL.
"He only played one season of Division I-AA…and since then, he’s hardly played at all,” King said . “So, if you're [49ers coach] Kyle Shanahan, you want to be fair, but you also have a Super Bowl-ready team right now and you can’t be experimenting. … What’s his next team, if he does go? Depending on -- five years from now, is Trey Lance even going to be playing football? That’s a question I would have, because we just haven’t seen enough to know anything about what he can do."
Lance looked a touch sharper than Sam Darnold in Saturday’s 21-20 preseason win over the Denver Broncos, completing 12 of 18 passes for 173 yards, a touchdown and an interception with a passer rating of 93.
He led two scoring drives of 60 yards or more in the final 2:34 to lead the 49ers to a one-point win as time expired after trailing 20-12, and he also showed significant improvement in his mechanics, awareness and decision-making from last week's loss to the Raiders.
Lance is currently locked in a battle with Darnold for the 49ers backup QB job behind Brock Purdy. 49ers coaches are reportedly high on Darnold, and some analysts have suggested the 26-year-old could beat out Lance for the No. 2 job when the regular season starts on Sept. 10.
Despite several teams reportedly expressing interest in trading for Lance during the offseason, the 49ers elected to hold onto the 23-year-old signal caller with Purdy recovering from Tommy John surgery on his throwing arm.
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