3 reasons 49ers don’t have to worry about Trey Lance in 2022
By Peter Panacy
Trey Lance is back in the news cycle again, if you hadn’t noticed, but the 49ers don’t need to be biting their collective fingernails about him this season.
The San Francisco 49ers knew they were going to enter a tumultuous turning point in their franchise after trading up to and then using the No. 3 NFL Draft pick on quarterback Trey Lance back in 2021.
Nearly every scouting report at the time cited Lance’s insanely high ceiling but questioned his lack of experience, merely one year fully starting at an FCS program, North Dakota State.
Now, having sat behind veteran quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo for a year, the tide will shift to Lance as a full-time starter.
This creates the inevitable questions of “will Lance be ready?” and “should the Niners keep Jimmy G as a reserve in case Lance flames out?”
Justifiable, but perhaps a little too worrisome.
San Francisco has gone all-in with Lance for the long haul. And while he’ll surely go through bumps and bruises, especially some moments this season, the 49ers have plenty of reasons to be confident that everything will turn out just fine.
Let’s take a look at reasons why.
49ers don’t have to worry about Trey Lance because of a stout defense
For those who may have overlooked it, Garoppolo and the offense didn’t do much during the postseason last January and February, aside from All-Pro wide receiver Deebo Samuel literally carrying this group on his back.
Over three playoff games last season, the Niners averaged 17.7 points per game.
Instead, coordinator DeMeco Ryans’ defense shouldered the bulk of the load, shutting down the Dallas Cowboys in the Wild Card round and then the Green Bay Packers in the divisional contact. And despite a shaky start to begin the 2021 regular season, San Francisco’s defense finished the year with the ninth-best scoring unit and third overall in fewest yards allowed.
Sure, there are some defensive question marks heading into 2022, namely at strong safety and in the middle of the defensive line.
However, Lance shouldn’t have to be worried too much about being put into situations where he has to trade offensive blows because the 49ers defense simply can’t get a stop.