Ryan Fitzpatrick points out how Josh Allen's emergence led to 49ers overdrafting Trey Lance
Former NFL quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick has a theory as to why the San Francisco 49ers traded up to draft Trey Lance.
Heading into the 2021 NFL Draft, Lance was one of the more intriguing prospects available to draft. He only started 17 college games as his 2020 season at North Dakota was canceled due to COVID-19.
However, in the small sample size, Lance had success in college and was widely projected to be one of the first quarterbacks taken. He ended up being the third overall pick, and third quarterback drafted, as Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson went 1-2.
Although Lance was drafted third overall, the San Francisco 49ers traded their first-round picks in 2021, 2022, and 2023 and their third-round pick in 2022 to get the third pick to select Lance.
According to Ryan Fitzpatrick, he believes the success of Josh Allen made the 49ers overdraft Trey Lance in hopes he would become like the Bills quarterback:
"I think there still is an opportunity. I think accuracy is his biggest thing, it's not his fault that he was overdrafted. He got way overdrafted getting picked third. I think people loved his athleticism, they loved how raw he was. Josh Allen coming from a small school, that probably helped a little bit.
"But, his accuracy I think right now is his biggest issue that he somehow has to go and fix. For him, he's so young, he hasn't played that much football, it's a tough thing to become accurate as you get older, but he's so young, there is a chance, but unfortunately it won't be in San Francisco."
As Fitzpatrick said, Trey Lance was not able to improve his accuracy while also dealing with injuries, which has hindered his NFL career.
Ryan Fitzpatrick also wondered how Lance will improve his accuracy, but he did hope the quarterback can figure it out and find success in the NFL.
Trey Lance's NFL career
Trey Lance was expected to sit behind Jimmy Garoppolo in his rookie season but did see some game action. In his rookie season, he played in six games and started two as he went 41-for-71 for 603 yards and five touchdowns.
In 2022, Lance was named the starting quarterback, but in the second game, he broke his leg in a nasty injury that ended his season. After Brock Purdy had success in his rookie season, he was named the starter for 2023, and Lance lost out the backup job to Sam Darnold and now is expected to be traded.
Where might Trey Lance land?
As of right now, the San Francisco 49ers have yet to trade Trey Lance, but it is expected they will evaluate the trade market.
At the draft, the 49ers were involved in discussions surrounding Lance, according to reports, but no deal was struck.
Currently, there haven't been any teams reported to be interested in Lance as of yet, but that is surely to change. However, 49ers GM John Lynch has said they expect Lance to remain with San Francisco.