Trey Lance didn’t really get the chance to showcase his skillset during his first season with the San Francisco 49ers. Instead, he watched Jimmy Garoppolo from the sidelines.
With the 2022 season roughly three months away, Lance is expected to be the starter for the 49ers.
Although there’ll most likely be plenty of ups and downs over the course of Lance’s first year as the 49ers’ full-time starter, head coach Kyle Shanahan has expressed a lot of confidence in the former No. 3 pick.
“I think the biggest thing on Trey that everyone’s got to realize is he is younger. Trey’s got more horsepower inside of him than I think he even knows of, just from the whole talent, but also what he’s made of, how intelligent he is,” Shanahan said, via 49ers WebZone. “I think he’s going to be able to overcome adversity. I do believe he’s going to be able to handle this pressure. It’s going to be hard, but that’s what the position is. There’s only so many people in this world that have the talent to be put in that spot, and there might be 32 of them, but there’s definitely not 32 of them who have the talent and who have the stuff inside that allows you to handle that position through the ups and downs and everything. I don’t care how good you are, people are going to come after you.”
The public won’t really get to see what Lance is made of until the season begins, but make no mistake, the 49ers’ coaching staff likes what it’s seeing from him.
Earlier this month, 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans said it’s tough to defend Lance.
“Defending him has been tough. He’s putting the ball on the money. The accuracy is there. The deep ball is there. I’m excited for Trey. He’s setting himself up to have a really good season for us,” Ryans said.
The 49ers will start the season on the road against the Chicago Bears.