Trey Lance: Ranking 49ers QB against other rookies entering Week 6

No. 3: Trey Lance, San Francisco 49ers

From an outsider’s perspective, particularly someone who didn’t actually watch Trey Lance in his starter’s debut against the still-undefeated Arizona Cardinals in Week 5, the No. 3 overall pick’s efforts would have generated a lot of skepticism.

After all, it’s hard to get overly excited about a line of 15-of-29 for 192 yards, zero touchdowns against an interception, albeit with 89 rush yards and a near rushing touchdown that was stopped inches short of the goal line.

In fairness, however, Lance wasn’t exactly aided by head coach Kyle Shanahan’s play-calling during the game, and four penalties accepted against the Niners offensive line meant the rookie was facing plenty of lengthy down-and-distance situations he had to dig himself out of.

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On a couple of occasions, he did. And even though Lance was under regular duress, hit seven times during the game, he still managed to keep his eyes downfield and avoid plenty of would-be sacks even though he took two.

Lance’s debut was certainly more promising than almost all the other first-year quarterbacks this season, and even though San Francisco has been somewhat disjointed this year, offensively, one shouldn’t hesitate to recognize his situation is notably better than nearly every other quarterback in a similar situation.

A small kicker, Lance’s 2.1 interception percentage is the lowest out of all rookie quarterbacks through five weeks. That helps.