Is Trey Lance overhyped? NFL fans and insiders divided over 49ers QB’s performance in training camp
Trey Lance's place on the San Francisco 49ers is an interesting point. For one, the team moved up in the NFL Draft to select him third overall. They then decided to start Jimmy Garoppolo over him and when Lance got hurt, he was arguably outplayed by Mr. Irrelevant Brock Purdy.
Heading into the 2023 training camp, there were reports that he might be traded and that Purdy might be the starter once he was healthy enough. Lance's play during camp hasn't done anything to assuage those rumors.
Per Dov Kleiman, an NFL reporter, Lance has struggled immensely.
Update: #49ers QB Trey Lance has "Really struggled" at practice Friday, per @LombardiHimself
Lance only received 4 pass attempts, fewest among Brock Purdy and Sam Darnold.
Out of those 4 attempts, he only completed 1 passes, and two of his three incompletions were "gimmes."… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… pic.twitter.com/RgBm9BkI3X
Kleiman reported:
"QB Trey Lance has 'Really struggled' at practice Friday, per @LombardiHimself. Lance only received 4 pass attempts, fewest among Brock Purdy and Sam Darnold. Out of those 4 attempts, he only completed 1 passes, and two of his three incompletions were 'gimmes.' Just one day of Training Camp practice, but not ideal."
For what it's worth, David Lombardi then reported later that Lance looked pretty solid in camp. At a later time, Lance looked like the guy the 49ers wanted.
That might’ve been Trey Lance’s best practice with the 49ers — of all 3 training camps. He finished 9-of-11; accuracy was on point. Perfect pass to Tay Martin through tight coverage to finish the session and set up a field goal in move-the-ball (which was introduced with pads)
He said:
"That might’ve been Trey Lance’s best practice with the 49ers — of all 3 training camps. He finished 9-of-11; accuracy was on point. Perfect pass to Tay Martin through tight coverage to finish the session and set up a field goal in move-the-ball (which was introduced with pads)."
The opinion seems to be divided here, with another fan bringing up a video of Lance badly missing a pretty simple throw.
The 49ers drafting Trey Lance put their franchise back 4-5 years. The #49ers would be legitimate Super Bowl contenders with Justin Fields under center.
You can’t convince me that your local high school QB wouldn’t make this throw. pic.twitter.com/CXIXv2OemE
They went so far as to say that the decision to move up for Lance might have set their team back years. They could have had Justin Fields instead, in this fan's eyes.
Is Trey Lance overhyped?
There is no consensus with Trey Lance. The San Francisco 49ers quarterback has physical tools, which is a big reason why the team moved up to select him. He's a tremendous athlete, but it would be wrong to say he hasn't struggled thus far. Additionally, he basically lost two years of his career- one to being a backup and the other to injury.
This problem is only compounded by how good Brock Purdy looked. Kyle Shanahan can make any quarterback look good and play well. His system is a quarterback's dream, so Purdy's success might be due to that and not so much his own talent.
Still, if Shanahan can get to the NFC Championship Game with the final pick in the NFL Draft and Lance struggled, that does not bode well. The jury is still out on Lance since he has less than four games of NFL action under his belt, but it doesn't look good so far.