The San Francisco 49ers made plenty of sacrifices to acquire Trey Lance in the 2021 NFL Draft. He was one of the most interesting and promising prospects, yet it was clear that he'd need some time to come around.
Kyle Shanahan threw Lance into the fire from day one. He gave him snaps in the red zone, and he even started when Jimmy Garoppolo had to miss time with an injury. Even so, he wasn't exactly impressive.
Multiple reports have stated that Lance's development is taking longer than the Niners originally expected. Nonetheless, NFL legend Jerry Rice has seen him firsthand and believes he's ready to take a massive leap in his sophomore season.
NFL News: Jerry Rice Affirms Trey Lance Will Take A Leap In Year 2
“Trey Lance, I think he’s ready to go,” Rice told KSBW TV, as quoted by 49erswebzone.com, “and I think he’s incredible because he has that one aspect that Jimmy (Garoppolo) doesn’t have, and that’s the threat of running with the ball and stuff like that. So his mobility, his strong arm, and this guy, he’s before his time.”
“I was running routes for him,” Rice added. “It didn’t take me long to really be on the same page with him. He’s got that rocket arm, but he’s also got that mobility and that vision where he can extend plays and throw the ball downfield. I’m sure, with repetitions on the field, the players really just building around him, he’s going to have a successful year this year.”
Lance does bring a more versatile skillset to the table compared to Garoppolo, at least on paper. But one should always expect growing pains with young QBs, especially one who barely played like him. Hopefully, he'll prove his doubters wrong and show why scouts were so high on him coming out of NDSU.
