The San Francisco 49ers claim to be ready to move on from Jimmy Garoppolo because they think Trey Lance is their QB of the future. And, while he was one of the most intriguing and promising prospects of the 2021 NFL Draft, it was clear that he was still quite raw.
As talented as he looked, Lance would be a work in progress and he could look at a couple of years on the sidelines before being ready to contribute. That was even more evident in the limited snaps he had during the season.
HC Kyle Shanahan has constantly raved about Lance and how he'll develop and leap them going forward. Then again, a recent report by NFL insider Matt Lombardo states that the 49ers organization may not feel the same way.
NFL Rumors: 49ers Aren't Impressed By Trey Lance's Development
"The feeling around San Francisco dating back to last summer during training camp was a little bit of disappointment over the Trey Lance that arrived in training camp versus what they saw on film at North Dakota State from an arm-strength standpoint and from a deep-ball-accuracy standpoint," Lombardo said.
Deep-Ball Accuracy And Arm Strength Are Legit Concerns
Apparently, Lance is having trouble getting a grasp of the playbook. And, while some growing pains were expected, the Niners thought his development would be quicker or at least more promising by now:
“And then you look at when he got into games this season, he didn’t exactly set the world on fire," added Lombardo. "Now, I know he had the injury, I know that he was a rookie and it certainly takes time for NFL quarterbacks to develop, but the 49ers gave up a lot to get Trey Lance."
"And the questions that I keep hearing about the deep-ball accuracy and the arm strength in practice, some whispers about how quickly he is understanding the playbook, and all of those things, the general vibe is this might not have been what the 49ers hoped they were getting when they gave up all that draft capital last year to go and get him," Lombardo said.
Lance is still quite young and the intangibles seemed to be there, so it's clearly way too early to count him out. Hopefully, he'll take things up a notch real fast and silence his critics in his first season as a starter.
