Trey Lance: 3 reasons to be critical of 49ers rookie quarterback
By Peter Panacy
Reason No. 3: Trey Lance is still awfully inexperienced
The 49ers did their best to shield Trey Lance from a prominent role in 2021, only occasionally using him in specific packages over the first half of the regular season and putting him in as a starter for two games when Jimmy Garoppolo was out with injury.
Lance subsequently went 1-1 in those starts, finishing his rookie year with a 57.7 completion percentage for 603 yards, five touchdowns, two interceptions and a 97.3 passer rating.
Most top-drafted quarterbacks have an extensive collegiate résumé, yet Lance’s is awfully brief, effectively including just one lone season as a full-time starter at North Dakota State, his final 2020 campaign abbreviated greatly because of the pandemic:
| Passing | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | School | Conf | Class | Pos | G | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | AY/A | TD | Int | Rate |
| 2018 | North Dakota State | MVC | FR | QB | 2 | 1 | 1 | 100.0 | 12 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 0 | 0 | 200.8 |
| 2019 | North Dakota State | MVC | SO | QB | 16 | 192 | 287 | 66.9 | 2786 | 9.7 | 11.7 | 28 | 0 | 180.6 |
| 2020 | North Dakota State | MVC | JR | QB | 1 | 15 | 30 | 50.0 | 149 | 5.0 | 4.8 | 2 | 1 | 107.1 |
| Career | North Dakota State | 208 | 318 | 65.4 | 2947 | 9.3 | 11.0 | 30 | 1 | 173.8 |
Provided by CFB at Sports Reference
Generated 2/17/2022.
Granted, nearly all of Lance’s college film is impressive. And forget the level of competition. He was playing in a pro-style offense and was making plays only a handful of collegiate quarterbacks make with any sort of regularity.
That said, there’s a point worrying about the fact Lance attempted a mere 318 passes at the college level.
For those who say Lance needs a while to gain that necessary experience — he is only 22 years old, after all — they have a point.
There are going to be growing pains for Lance in 2022 and beyond, many of which have likely been experienced already by the four other quarterbacks selected in Round 1 of the 2021 NFL Draft.
If there’s anything to be learned here, it’s the fact patience will be a key point.