Trey Lance: 3 reasons to be critical of 49ers rookie quarterback

There is a lot of deserved hype surrounding 49ers quarterback Trey Lance entering 2022, but there are also reasons to be critical, too.

Nearly everyone here at Niner Noise is on the Trey Lance hype train entering 2022. The San Francisco 49ers’ 2021 rookie signal-caller shows all the signs of being an elite-level talent at the NFL level, and fans were lucky enough to catch some glimpses of that during training camp, the preseason and over two starts during the regular season.

All signs are now pointing to the Niners anointing Lance as their full-time starter next season, as they prepare to move on from the veteran, Jimmy Garoppolo, and usher in a new era of quarterbacking for the foreseeable future.

It’s fun and necessary to prop Lance up, highlighting all the reasons why he should be expected to be great.

At the same time, though, it’s still necessary to curb the enthusiasm a bit, acknowledging the areas in which Lance has or may struggle during the early phases of his career.

Don’t look at this as mere reasons to be doubtful about his maturation, rather take it as a breakdown of the areas in which he’ll need to improve and develop.

Lance has plenty of the ideal traits necessary to become a top-end quarterback. If he didn’t, San Francisco wouldn’t have acted so aggressively and traded up to the No. 3 overall spot in last year’s NFL Draft.

But even the most prolific draft picks require a lot of work, both by themselves and from their supporting cast.

So, if there are areas in which Lance will need to show growth, it’ll fall into these three areas.