Trey Lance came to the San Francisco 49ers as a hopeful in 2021. Two years later, the expensive investment in the draft hasn’t paid off for the franchise and there’s no end to the criticism of the young quarterback facing an uncertain future.

In the 2021 draft, the San Francisco 49ers went all-in for their hopeful of the future.

The franchise sent three first-round picks and a third-round pick to the Miami Dolphins to be allowed to pick at three instead of position twelve in the first round, thus signing quarterback Trey Lance.

Two seasons later, however, there is disillusionment with the expensive investment around the Bay Area. In the US media, the deal is already being described as one of the biggest failures in recent NFL history.

For the player himself, meanwhile, the prospects of justifying his high price in the future and fulfilling the high expectations are getting worse and worse after his disappointing start in the NFL.

Trey Lance: the steep decline of the former top pick

As a rookie, Lance was still very inconsistent and consequently took on the role of Jimmy Garoppolo’s backup so that he could learn behind the veteran. In addition to four short appearances, he was allowed to start twice in 2021 when “Jimmy G.” was out injured. After the season, however, Lance emphasised that he had been suffering from an injury to the index finger of his throwing hand all season, which meant that he was effectively only able to throw with four fingers.

Last season, the final change was to be made in San Francisco and the now 23-year-old started the season as QB1 of the “Niners”. But already in week two Lance suffered a broken ankle which ended his season prematurely.

Lance has since made a full recovery in the offseason, but he has lost his starting job for good. “Mister Irrelevant” Brock Purdy, the last pick in the 2022 draft, was thrown into the deep end of necessity in his debut season in the NFL when Garoppolo’s season was also prematurely over after injury in early December.

Purdy, unlike Lance, impressed right away and will be the starting quarterback again next season after returning from an elbow injury suffered in the playoffs.

With offseason newcomer Sam Darnold, the former franchise hopeful only battled for the backup role behind Purdy in preparation. But in this duel, too, Lance should lose out.

San Francisco 49ers: Darnold becomes Purdy backup – Lance before trade?

Ahead of this weekend’s final preseason game against the Los Angeles Chargers, head coach Kyle Shanahan announced that he will start the season with Darnold as starter Purdy’s backup. Lance thus slips from starter to number three on the team in just one year.

According to “ESPN”, the quarterback will also be out of action against the Chargers and was absent from Wednesday’s practice on the advice of his coach to “take the day off and wind down” after the morning’s bad news.

“We gave him a great chance to win the number two position this year. It was a very tough battle, but in the long run Sam won it,” the 43-year-old is quoted as saying by The Athletic, citing Lance’s injuries as the main reasons for his underperformance.

Whether his future still lies with the 49ers seems highly unlikely after the latest demotion.

Trade speculation was already persistent around the draft in April. These are now likely to pick up speed again.

The decisive factor will be how much San Francisco demands in return for Lance. A high draft pick as compensation seems unlikely, because elsewhere, too, no more than a backup role beckons for the player shortly before the start of the season.

San Francisco 49ers: Lance sharply criticised after preseason opener

Previously, the former top pick’s preseason performances were watched with a wary eye. After an emphatic 7:34 in the opener against the Las Vegas Raiders, Lance was again sharply criticised for his performance as a starter.

While his stats were solid with ten of 15 successful passes for 112 passing yards and a touchdown, the touchdown came on a throw that should have been intercepted.

Shanahan called the pass “scary,” according to “CBS News,” but thought it was good that Lance wasn’t intimidated and took risks. “Those are things you can learn from. I think it’s good that he tried to make that play, no matter what the outcome is,” the coach continued.

In addition, Lance was charged with almost throwing another interception but a defender dropped the ball. Overall, he often held onto the football too long, which contributed to the four sacks. The shaky offensive line against the Raiders didn’t allow the quarterback to get much time either. According to Pro Football Focus, Lance was pressured on half of his 20 dropped backs.

Coach Shanahan was nevertheless impressed by how his protégé dealt with the high expectations placed on him and the public pressure: “Trey is extremely intelligent and has a strong social consciousness. He knows how the world works. He’s doing the best he can and I think he’s doing a damn good job of blocking that out and focusing on getting better. That’s what he’s done for me so far. “

Lance leads 49ers to game-winning drive in preseason vs. Broncos

In the second preseason game against the Denver Broncos, Purdy celebrated his comeback about five months after his surgery. Lance was the last quarterback to be used behind Darnold and made another interception on his first drive. After that, however, the playmaker showed a clear improvement, radiated confidence and did not allow a sack.

The quarterback finished the game with twelve of 18 successful passes for 173 yards and a touchdown. More importantly, he led the team down the field with a 43-yard pass to wide receiver Ronnie Bell on the game-winning drive, which kicker Jake Moody completed on a field goal to make it 21-20.

“I feel like every time I get on the field I learn a lot. I’m getting better with every repetition, whether it’s in practice, in the game or anywhere else,” Lance had stressed after the game, which, however, could not change his fate.

The lack of competitive practice compared to his rivals proved to be too big a shortcoming – and not just since the move to the NFL. In three seasons in college at North Dakota State and his first two years with the 49ers, the quarterback surrendered a combined total of just 420 pass attempts in games, according to NBC Sports.

By comparison, reigning MVP Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs had 648 pass attempts in the 2022 regular season alone. And a Darnold has also put up over 400 pass attempts in each of his first two seasons in the NFL after the New York Jets drafted him at number three in 2018.

Alex Smith breaks lance for youngster Trey Lance

While numerous U.S. pundits have long dismissed Lance’s qualities for a great career as a starter in the NFL and have already labelled him unsuitable for the Shanahan system in advance, he has a great advocate in one of his predecessors with the 49ers.

Former quarterback Alex Smith can understand the difficult situation and the high pressure on the 23-year-old from his own experience like few others. “I can relate to him a lot. You can see he’s carrying a lot of baggage, the 39-year-old, who finished his career in 2021, recently told “SiriusXM NFL Radio”.

Smith came into the league as the 49ers’ No. 1 pick in the 2005 draft, but even for him, success was not to come right out of the gate as he had hoped. In his first four seasons in San Francisco, Smith struggled with the high expectations and was also set back by injuries. Over time, however, Smith found his game and, after being traded to the Kansas City Chiefs in his ninth year in the NFL, received the first of his three Pro Bowl nominations.

Meeting the high expectations while trying to please everyone isn’t always conducive, he said. “You can tell he’s anxious to go out there and justify it,” Smith pointed out, referring to Lance’s performance in the preseason game against the Raiders. “You don’t want to make a mistake. You hold onto the ball a little too long. You almost want it too bad.”

Smith feels the harsh media criticism of Lance is fundamentally “extremely unfair” and urged that the youngster’s past performances be put into perspective: “Look at the facts. The boy has played five games in the last three years. Five football games! He’s 23 years old. I think he still has an incredibly promising future ahead of him. “