49ers vs. Chargers: 3 things Trey Lance must do in preseason bout
By Peter Panacy
No. 2: Trey Lance must avoid tossing risky passes
A key ingredient to any elongated drive is not turning the ball over, which is something Trey Lance completely avoided during his exceptional 2019 campaign at North Dakota State, boasting zero interceptions thrown that year.
Going back over the film, though, there were a few interceptable passes tossed that season, and it’s not hard to conclude tougher competition would have come away with some turnovers.
At any rate, Lance got away with two near-interceptions during his NFL debut against the Chiefs, especially one towards the end of the first half where he stared down wide receiver Jauan Jennings and tried forcing a pass to him despite an unseen Kansas City defensive back bearing down on the catch point, breaking up the catch and nearly coming away with the ball.
No quarterback can avoid risky passes 100 percent of the time. That’s impossible, and any tight-window throw always has the chance of being picked.
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Yet Lance will need to learn when these kinds of situations mandate taking the risk. It’s not a case where he doesn’t have the talent or know-how for doing so.
Rather just the time and experience needed to mesh being aggressive while avoiding unnecessary risk.