The San Francisco 49ers took a big chance in the 2021 NFL Draft. They gave up multiple assets to take Trey Lance out of North Dakota State, even though it was pretty clear that he was a work in progress.
The Niners rushed him into action early in the season, and he did show some interesting things. However, it became even more apparent that he needed more time to develop.
Now, NFL insider Matt Lombardo recently revealed that team officials have been disappointed and underwhelmed by Lance's development thus far:
"The feeling around San Francisco dating back to last summer during training camp was a little bit of disappointment over the Trey Lance that arrived in training camp versus what they saw on film at North Dakota State from an arm-strength standpoint and from a deep-ball-accuracy standpoint," Lombardo reported.
Lance's rookie year was far from impressive, and he didn't always make the most of the chances he got when Jimmy Garoppolo was out. Still, it's hard to judge him after just one season:
“And then you look at when he got into games this season, he didn’t exactly set the world on fire," Lombardo added. "Now, I know he had the injury, I know that he was a rookie and it certainly takes time for NFL quarterbacks to develop, but the 49ers gave up a lot to get Trey Lance."
But apparently, Lance isn't precisely making strides on training camp, either. There are legit concerns about his arm strength and deep-ball accuracy, as well as his ability to get a hold of the playbook:
"And the questions that I keep hearing about the deep-ball accuracy and the arm strength in practice, some whispers about how quickly he is understanding the playbook, and all of those things, the general vibe is this might not have been what the 49ers hoped they were getting when they gave up all that draft capital last year to go and get him," said Lombardo.
But even despite all these alleged concerns, Niners' HC Kyle Shanahan has had nothing but praise for him. Also, veteran teammate Fred Warner praised his maturity and how he's handled himself since entering the league.
It's still early, and he's pretty young, so we shouldn't rush to count him out. But if he doesn't get it together and Jimmy G's still on the team, he might lose his job,
