Trey Lance's struggles are no surprise

The No. 3 overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft now sits behind Sam Darnold, the No. 3 overall pick of the 2018 draft on San Francisco’s depth chart. It’s quite a fall from grace for a player that took the 49ers three first-round draft picks and a third-rounder to get. But no one should be surprised.

Lance threw a total of 208 passes in three years at North Dakota State. He threw just one pass as a redshirt freshman and played just one game as a junior when the school canceled its 2020 season amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

By comparison, Trevor Lawrence, the first overall pick in the same draft, had 758 pass attempts with Clemson and Zach Wilson, the second overall pick, made 837 throws. That’s quite a disparity.

This year, Indianapolis drafted Florida’s Anthony Richardson with the No. 4 pick. With just 13 starts in three years as a Gator, critics cautioned against his lack of experience. But the Colts’ starting quarterback had more attempts than Lance in college and came much cheaper than the little-used Bison.

Richardson was one of three quarterbacks drafted with a top-five pick this year, going after Alabama’s Bryce Young and Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud. Unfortunately, top-five quarterbacks haven’t had a great track record in recent years.

In the past 10 drafts, 17 quarterbacks have been taken with top-five picks. Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow and Arizona’s Kyler Murray have enjoyed the most success, but most of the others have struggled.

The jury’s still out on Tua Tagovailoa, but Blake Bortles and Carson Wentz are no longer in the NFL. Baker Mayfield and Jared Goff still have starting jobs but are no longer with the teams that drafted them. Neither are Darnold, Marcus Mariota, Mitch Trubisky or Jameis Winston.

The 49ers insist they want to keep Lance, but all parties would be better off if they let him go. Lance was never going to live up to the draft capital it took to get him, but a fresh start with a new team could be just what he needs.