49ers training camp: Stock up or down on Trey Lance, 2nd-year players
By Peter Panacy
We’ve taken a look at the 49ers’ 2022 NFL Draft class in training camp, but let’s see how the stock is performing for Trey Lance and other second-year pros.
It’s always fun to take a look at rookies during their first training camp, and the San Francisco 49ers have already featured some promising moments from a handful of their 2022 NFL Draft class, particularly EDGE Drake Jackson.
Yet first-year players are frequently outmatched during camp, and particularly with the Niners’ 2022 class, most of those players are expected to fill reserve roles in year one.
That’s not the case with San Francisco’s 2021 NFL Draft class one year later.
A sizable chunk of the 49ers’ second-year pros are expected to make massive leaps this season, some of them poised to start in prominent roles after largely serving as backups or ancillary pieces in 2021.
So, what about them? How are those players from the Niners’ 2021 draft performing in their second training camp?
Let’s do a second-year stock watch for these San Francisco sophomores.
49ers training camp stock watch: QB Trey Lance
Quarterback Trey Lance is entering his first year as the unquestioned 49ers starter, and as has been expected, there are some growing pains.
Completing roughly 50 percent of his passes in camp against what’s shaping up to be a top-quality Niners defense, Lance has been able to make some highlight-reel throws but against the backdrop of a questionable offensive line and trying to live up to the expectations of being the No. 3 overall draft pick a year ago.
Simply put, it’s been a mixed bag.
Trey Lance's stats in Training Camp:
— Rohan Chakravarthi (@RohanChakrav) August 4, 2022
44/86(51.2%)
5 TDs(1 rush)
4 INTs
6 drops
1 throwaway
2 batted passes
8 PBUs
Note that several INCs were accurately-placed balls and the defense won the play with a PBU. Take that as you wish.#49wz
This isn’t a disappointment, though. To quote Lance’s top wide receiver, Deebo Samuel, the quarterback “is getting smarter by the day.”
Lance needs to go through these mistakes and learn from them. That’s a positive. Yet there are going to be concerns in the wake of Lance not completely “taking over” training camp, meaning his stock value is about even from where it was when practices first started.
Stock: Even