49ers fans should temper expectations for Trey Lance vs Bears

Trey Lance was drafted to be the face of the franchise, but here’s why San Francisco 49ers fans might want to temper expectations in Week 1.

Trey Lance has all the tools to become a great NFL quarterback, but it’s possible that we might not see as smooth of a transition to starting QB gig as we have hoped for. It’s probably going to take some time, and it’s reasonable to understand why.

In a 2021 draft top-heavy with quarterback talent, the San Francisco 49ers traded the house to move up prior to the draft to make sure Lance was going to be their guy. In Week 1 of the 2021 season, they will be going up against second-year QB, Justin Fields. Some speculated that the former Ohio State star was the player that the 49ers may have been targeting when they moved up.

On paper, the Chicago Bears certainly don’t have the feel of a contending team. There are talent deficiencies all around the roster, and the team is likely to rely heavily on Fields to carry the load at times. While the 49ers are 6.5-point road favorites in this matchup, via Fanduel Sportsbook, don’t expect smooth sailing from the gate for Lance.

49ers fans must be patient with Lance

It wasn’t surprising to see Trey Lance essentially have a redshirt season last year. Lance turned just 21 years old before his rookie year and he came from a non-Power Five football conference at North Dakota State. Additionally, Lance really only had a one-year sample of play at the collegiate level (he sat out all but one game during his junior year in 2020), and he threw the ball just 16.7 times per game in college.

During limited action in his rookie season, the results looked pretty promising for Lance. He earned 5 touchdowns to go with 2 interceptions and averaged 8.5 yards per attempt. Lance also chipped in 38 carries for 168 yards and a score on the ground — a skill he will use to his advantage often during his career.

However, Lance has plenty of work to do when it comes to ball placement, decision-making, and accuracy. As a rookie, he completed just 57.7 percent of his passes. While his sample was small, his 59.9 overall grade from Pro Football Focus was certainly less than desirable.

It’s also worth noting that his only two starts so far have come against the Arizona Cardinals and Houston Texans. While Lance did enough to defeat an unspectacular Texans team late in the season when Houston had nothing to play for, his offense scored just 10 points against the Cardinals in Week 5 in what proved to be a very sloppy starting debut from Lance.

It may not help his cause that Kyle Shanahan doesn’t like to play his starters during the preseason. As a result, Lance only got a few offensive series all summer in exhibition action and is going to be entering Week 1 pretty rusty.

Though the 49ers are a much more talented team than the Bears, Lance will be playing on the road in the season-opener, and we have seen a lot of flukey things happen in Week 1 all around the league. While both quarterbacks are very young, Fields does have experience on his side. This has given him time to develop chemistry with players like Darnell Mooney and Cole Kmet. On the other hand, Lance hasn’t had much time to get acclimated to his weapons.

Now just 22 years old and with very little college and professional starting experience, 49ers fans should expect growing pains as they live with the lumps Trey Lance might come with during 2022. Eventually, he’s certainly talented enough to develop into one of the better quarterbacks in the league, but we probably shouldn’t expect that of such a raw quarterback right away.