49ers vs. Raiders: 3 ways Trey Lance shows improvement
By Peter Panacy
No. 3: 49ers want Trey Lance to build upon looking off defenders
One of the things upon which Trey Lance has already shown improvement is his ability to regularly look off defenders, although it’s still an area where he can get better.
Lance didn’t toss any interceptions back in 2019 at North Dakota State, but he sure did get away with some risky throws. And those are likely to result in more interceptions at the pro level.
Such is the case when contrasting two different plays — the first, a near interception against the Kansas City Chiefs in preseason Week 1 when Lance stared down wide receiver Jauan Jennings, only to have a baiting Chiefs defensive back, Rashad Fenton, nearly pick off the pass.
You can take a look at that play here.
A week later against the Los Angeles Chargers, Lance attempted another pass over the middle of the field. But as shown in this excellent film breakdown by ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky, Lance looked off the Chargers defender who didn’t have any man-coverage assignments, finding wide receiver Travis Benjamin for Lance’s second touchdown of the day.
San Francisco will want to see more of the latter. And it’ll certainly help to avoid some of those high-risk throws Lance has already made over two preseason games.