NFL Media draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah has always been high on now-San Francisco 49ers quarterback Trey Lance. Last year, he was high on him before San Francisco traded up to the No. 3 overall pick to acquire the North Dakota State product. Jeremiah was high on him after the 49ers drafted the young quarterback.
What if, in an alternate reality, Lance had remained in college one more year, played well, and stayed healthy? Would he be the top pick in this year's draft?
On Friday, that was the question presented to Jeremiah during a lengthy conference call with reporters to preview the 2022 NFL Scouting Combine.
"In my opinion, yes," Jeremiah responded. "He's more talented than any quarterback in this draft class coming out, and I don't even think it's particularly close. If he had a chance to go back to school and continue to grow and play and develop, yeah, I think he would have been the first pick in this draft."
This year's group of quarterback prospects isn't viewed as being particularly strong. Not like last year, when Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson, Lance, Justin Fields, and Mac Jones were all selected in the first round.
Lawrence and Jones each started all 17 games as a rookie. Wilson started 13, and Fields started 10. Lance had just two starts, serving the entirety of his rookie season as Jimmy Garoppolo's backup. However, he was one of the more intriguing prospects in last year's draft. While most viewed someone like Jones as having a high floor, most saw Lance as having a much higher ceiling.
Lance is widely expected to be the 49ers' Week 1 starter during the upcoming season.
"But I can go through and look at last year's draft and how loaded it was up there at the top," Jeremiah said, "that I could make a case—I did this with somebody the other day on the phone—you could go through and I could find probably 10 guys that would have an opportunity to be the first pick in this year's draft. This year's draft has got a lot of depth, and there's a lot as you go outside of the top 10 that you love as you go through it.
"But in terms of being top-heavy, I think last year's draft, man, again, you could come up with probably 10 names that would have a chance to be the first pick this year, and Lance would definitely be one of them."
