49ers news: Fans should believe the hype surrounding Trey Lance

While 49ers quarterback Trey Lance remains an unknown heading into 2022, the growing amount of hype is a good sign entering the offseason.

Whether it was the right decision or not, the San Francisco 49ers did their best to shield their top investment from the 2021 NFL Draft, quarterback Trey Lance, for almost all of last season, instead defaulting to their veteran starter, Jimmy Garoppolo, aside from the two starts Lance had to make in the wake of injuries to Jimmy G.

Sure, Lance comes with both a ton of potential and a lack of experience, having started just one full season at the collegiate level and attempting only 318 passes before being drafted.

Either way, Lance has some awfully big shoes to fill in the wake of what’ll assuredly be Garoppolo being dealt during the offseason.

Luckily for Lance, the Niners roster is stacked well enough to compete for a Super Bowl in 2022.

Exactly how well Lance assumes his new role as a starter this upcoming season is anyone’s guess, but there’s no shortage of hype coming from both within and outside the organization.

Those reports should be reasons enough why fans should be excited about Lance’s potential.

49ers players haven’t stopped hyping up Trey Lance

While many within San Francisco’s locker room continued to endorse Garoppolo throughout all of 2021, despite mounting pressure on Jimmy G and all the criticisms that paralleled his struggles, Lance was no stranger to praise either.

Before Super Bowl LIV, wide receiver Deebo Samuel told The Jim Rome Show why he felt Lance “can be a superstar,” while linebacker Fred Warner noted the progress Lance made over the course of the season within practices.

Those kinds of comments, and others from 49ers players, aren’t alone going to generate enough hype.

But when factoring in some of the reports from those outside the organization, Lance’s hype becomes a bit more believable.

2 other NFL insiders say 49ers ‘got their guy’ in Trey Lance

Towards the end of the regular season, NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco mentioned how he was hearing just how well Lance was performing in practices down the stretch, suggesting the rookie had turned the page from what had been a relative plateau after impressing a lot during training camp.

Maiocco recently spoke with NBC Sports’ Peter King, with whom the Niners have a close relationship. King even spent an NFL Draft session with San Francisco two seasons ago.

King’s words to Maiocco on the 49ers Talk Podcast were telling:

"My feeling is — and I feel strong about this — my feeling is: Kyle Shanahan knows right now that he has a good quarterback. …I will be surprised if Trey Lance in 2022 isn’t as good or better than Jimmy Garoppolo was in 2021. Having said that, I think Garoppolo was better than he will ultimately get credit for."

Considering the Niners made it to within minutes of winning the 2022 NFC Championship game and advancing to the Super Bowl, even a modest improvement by Lance over Garoppolo’s efforts last year should result in a promising upcoming season for San Francisco.

Extending further, Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer also spoke with Maiocco about Lance’s context and the situation on the table:

"I’ve heard great stuff about him behind the scenes. I heard they love him. They’re enamored with him. He does some things in practice that make you go, ‘Oh, my goodness.’ But he’s young.I think they did the right thing [not rushing to start Lance]. I think halfway through this season they were almost getting tempted to go with him, and Jimmy just started playing better and better and better and better and better."

Glazer, who has a very close pulse on all things around the league and has established quite the reputation for being accurate, raises a good point.

Lance, 22 years old, is awfully young and will take time to mature.

That said, a youthful quarterback with one full year of development under his belt can help set the context for some awfully exciting 49ers football for a long, long time.

Plus all the hype that comes along with it.