Lance has started only four NFL games in two NFL seasons, two during his rookie year and two last season. The quarterback was still dealing with a preseason finger injury during both games in 2021, and the opener last season was played in monsoon-like conditions.
Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated recently created some social-media chatter, speculating that Sam Darnold might beat out Lance for the QB2 job behind Brock Purdy, burying Lance on the depth chart.
"Now, it doesn't mean Trey Lance can't come back and work his way forward, but I think that they feel like they've already given this guy a lot of chances," Breer said.
All of Breer's comments (you can read them all at the link above) paint a bleak picture of Lance's future with the 49ers. However, one respected 49ers insider paints a very different picture, saying the team has never been higher on the third-year player.
"I think, right now, we just don't have enough information, and I don't think the 49ers have enough information to tell you who is in line to be the backup," Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area said Thursday on KNBR's Murph & Mac show. "I dispute the notion that the 49ers have soured on Trey Lance. I think, personally, in my opinion, is that they like him now more than they ever have since they've had him with the 49ers, but they just don't know how he would perform."
The 49ers know how Purdy would perform. The second-year quarterback was a surprise rookie sensation last season, becoming the starter after the injuries to Lance and veteran Jimmy Garoppolo. Purdy guided the 49ers to eight consecutive wins, going 7-0 as a starter before suffering a torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his throwing arm during the NFC Championship Game.
The 49ers feel confident they could have won that game and returned to the Super Bowl had Purdy not been injured. The team saw enough from the then-rookie to declare him deserving of the QB1 job in 2023.
The Niners signed quarterback Sam Darnold in free agency. He has started 55 games during his career, and head coach Kyle Shanahan believes the 26-year-old might thrive on a roster as talented as the San Francisco's. Of course, nothing is a certainty in the NFL.
"Nobody knows how [Lance] would perform if given the opportunity," Maiocco continued. "And I think Darnold is kind of in the same position. They like him a lot. There's a lot of talent there. We've talked about how he can throw the football, but they just don't know about him either, about how he would perform if given the opportunity in this offense.
"So I kind of see it as the 49ers going into training camp with a pretty clear-cut number one quarterback, even though he might not play much—or any—in the preseason. But I think their number one is pretty clear-cut. The number two is, I would say, equal footing and kind of a TBA or TBD."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Maiocco below.
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