Trey Lance

Who is Trey Lance

Viewed as a raw prospect heading into the 2021 NFL Draft, the 49ers and general manager John Lynch opted to bank on Lance’s elite upside when they chose to draft him. Lance possesses an 81st-percentile 4.69 40 time, and has good size with a height of 6-foot-4, and 226-pound frame. Despite speculation that Lance would take control of the 49ers’ quarterback room, veteran quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo kept Lance at bay during his rookie season, with his only two starts coming in Weeks 5 and 17 when Garoppolo was sidelined with injuries.

In those two starts, Lance went 1-1, looking every bit like the raw prospect most figured him to be. While he struggled in his first start against Arizona, his Week 17 start against the Texans, an admittedly lowly franchise, offered more promise, as Lance went 16-of-23 passing for 249 yards, two touchdowns and one interception while rushing for 31 yards in a 23-7 win. Lance would complete just 57.5% of his passes in 2021, as his accuracy is something he will need to drastically improve on heading into 2022. Per next gen stats, Lance ranked fifth in carries per game (6.3) and was 32nd amongst quarterbacks with five red zone carries. Lance had a 57.1% completion percentage while under pressure, and completed 38.5% of his deep balls. He threw for 648 air yards in limited action, and was on pace for 1,836 air yards for the year.

Next season, Garoppolo will likely be out of the way whether via trade or release, thus giving way to Lance as the team’s full-time starter. The 49ers didn’t just happen to take Lance with the third overall pick in the draft. The team traded their 2021, 2022 and 2023 first round picks, along with their 2022 third round pick to the Dolphins in order to trade up in the draft and select Lance.

The 49ers can ill-afford to let Lance, a quarterback they aggressively went out and acquired, sit for another season. Lance’s upside is that of not only a top fantasy asset, but also one of the best playmaking quarterbacks in the league. His ADP is likely to look like a tremendous value all offseason to those ready to buy into him in 2022 (think Lamar Jackson 2019 ADP), as he could provide a significant edge to teams who opt to fade the QB position early and invest faith in him as their QB1.