There has been a ton of smoke surrounding the San Francisco 49ers’ quarterback situation this offseason. NFL fans around the world want to know if Trey Lance is ready to be the team’s starter.
Earlier this month, NFL insider Matt Lombardo reported that San Francisco’s coaching staff has been “continually underwhelmed” by Lance.
During a recent episode of Pro Football Talk Live, Chris Simms revealed what he’s hearing about Lance and the 49ers.
“Anybody you talk to who saw training camp last year, either that was part of the 49ers staff or when they went and worked with the Los Angeles Chargers and you hear people who witnessed those practices, there had to be concerns coming out of San Francisco early on in the year last year,” Simms said. “I know there was. There were too many people who were like, ‘Man, the ball is everywhere; man, he’s not ready yet.’ That’s got to scare them to a degree.”
The 49ers knew Lance would be “raw” coming out of college because he didn’t get a full 2020 season. That being said, he’s a good athlete with a strong arm.
At some point, the 49ers have to rip off the band-aid and allow Lance to show what he can do as their starter. Fortunately, it sounds like they’ll do just that.
“That’s why we looked into trading Jimmy,” 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said at the NFL’s Annual League Meeting. “Because we obviously believe Trey can be a starter and we’re ready to do that.”
Lance, the No. 3 pick from the 2021 NFL Draft, finished his rookie season with 603 passing yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions.
There’ll be plenty of eyes on Lance next season, especially if he’s named the Week 1 starter.