The 49ers are poised to start Trey Lance in 2022, but it would be wise to land a veteran mentor during the offseason. These four free agents make sense.
2022 is going to mark the year when the San Francisco 49ers make the full transition from quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to the No. 3 overall pick from the 2021 NFL Draft, Trey Lance.
Sure, Garoppolo has played well enough in the second half of the season to thwart any thoughts Lance should be starting for the Niners now. But San Francisco’s need to clear cap space, paired with the lofty investment general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan made to acquire Lance, means Garoppolo is playing his final weeks with the 49ers.
Lance, whose relative inexperience at the collegiate level at North Dakota State, still needs a veteran mentor, though. A proverbial “Steve DeBerg to Joe Montana” kind of relationship early in Lance’s career despite Garoppolo being in that role for one season.
And while the 2021 NFL free agency market isn’t exactly chock full of high-quality options under center, there are a number of modest veterans who could at least serve as a mentoring backup to Lance, tutoring him as necessary and pushing him to develop even further.
Here are four who can help in this role in 2022.
49ers mentor for Trey Lance No. 4: Brian Hoyer
Sure, Niners fans probably want nothing to do with seeing veteran quarterback Brian Hoyer donning a San Francisco uniform again, not after what Hoyer failed to accomplish during his brief stint with the team back in 2017 before the high-profile trade for Garoppolo that year.
Yet that doesn’t erase the fact Hoyer is at least familiar with Shanahan’s offense, both with the 49ers and Cleveland Browns in 2014, and Hoyer’s journeyman status over the years has at least kept him competitive enough to stay in the league ever since.
And the New England Patriots have already tasked Hoyer with being a mentor to their 2021 rookie quarterback, Mac Jones, this season already.
Hoyer’s role, as would be the case for any mentor for Lance, would merely be as a trusted advisor, someone who could point out how the offense can function against certain coverages, what to look for in matchups and so on.
The same kind of role Hoyer is currently serving with the Pats, nothing more.
49ers mentor for Trey Lance No. 3: Tyrod Taylor
It’s been a long time since Brian Hoyer had any substantial success as a starter, and sometimes a quarterback with some sort of winning pedigree can be a bit more valuable than someone who’s merely been a journeyman backup for the bulk of his career.
At this stage, Houston Texans quarterback Tyrod Taylor is little more than a starting-caliber backup, a stopgap option for a bad team (like Houston) and nothing else. Yet Taylor’s three-year starting stint with the Buffalo Bills between 2015 and 2017, one which produced a Pro Bowl nod, has some merit.
Taylor, whose journey around the NFL has been nearly as profound as that of fellow journeyman quarterback Josh Johnson, once boasted a skill set not quite unlike that of Trey Lance: a mobile, dual-threat signal-caller who had to learn when to use his legs when elements of the play broke down.
That stint in Buffalo was a prime example of that, as he rushed for 1,575 yards and 14 touchdowns during his three years there.
But the biggest challenge Taylor would have mentoring Lance would be teaching him how to refrain from relying on his scrambling abilities too much.
That serves a purpose.
49ers mentor for Trey Lance No. 2: Joe Flacco
Again, you’re not going to see any eye-popping names on the Niners’ NFL free agency quarterback-target list. That market simply isn’t good enough, and we’re merely talking about veteran backups anyway.
One such backup, New York Jets quarterback Joe Flacco, already drew interest from San Francisco last offseason, perhaps an ominous sign the 49ers were considering moving on from Jimmy Garoppolo and starting Trey Lance as early as the 2021 season.
Flacco ultimately signed with the Philadelphia Eagles, then was traded to the Jets, while the Niners retained Jimmy G and kept Lance in an understudy-backup role.
Read More: 4 teams that regret not being able to draft Trey Lance
Soon to be 37 years old, Flacco would potentially bring him a Kyle Shanahan-like experience after serving under Jets offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur, San Francisco’s former pass-game coordinator, so there’s that to chew on.
More importantly, though, Flacco has that longtime starting-veteran prowess, including a Super Bowl win we won’t talk about, yet the kind of experience that could potentially bode well for a player like Lance in 2022.
49ers mentor for Trey Lance No. 1: Ryan Fitzpatrick
On injured reserve with the Washington Football Team right now, it’s hard to guess what the future holds for veteran quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, whose injury opened up the door for Washington to start Taylor Heinicke down the stretch.
Perhaps the Football Team sticks with Heinicke into 2022 or elects to grab a rookie draftee, it’s anyone’s guess. But the safe bet seems to be Fitzpatrick, who just turned 39 years old, makes his way to yet another franchise in what could be the final year of his provocative career.
Maybe even as a 49ers backup.
Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa offered up endorsements for Fitzpatrick as a mentor back in March of 2021. And while Tagovailoa hasn’t physically shown that mentorship paid off, the words do mean something.
What might be more important, though, is Fitzpatrick still has the aura of being a winning-caliber quarterback, something the Niners hopefully wouldn’t need to call upon in the event of Trey Lance suffering some kind of injury.
But a good insurance policy just in case, in addition to the need for some veteran presence to help further Lance’s maturation.