Trey Lance continues to be one of the most interesting stories of the entire NFL season. This week it was Peter King’s turn to chat with the 49ers’ quarterback, and he did so for his Football Morning in America column. The topics King focused on more than any other were Lance’s mechanics and accuracy. Trey had an interesting answer when asked to compare those two things from last year to this year.
“I think I’m in a really good spot. I think I’m honestly pretty similar to where I was a year ago as far as just throwing the ball and getting my body in position. Mentally everything is a lot more clear for me. I’m in a much better spot mentally, so I think that probably smooths a lot of things out as far as my footwork. So some things that might look like mechanics, I think, some of the time has a lot to do with understanding the offense and being able to play fast.”
Lance has stuck with this answer since the offseason began. On multiple occasions, he’s stated that he hasn’t made any major changes to his physical mechanics. He’s also characterized himself as “swimming” a little bit last year when it came to the mental side of the game. This year, he appears to be far more comfortable from that standpoint, which is to be expected.
Later in the column, Kyle Shanahan had an interesting answer when asked if Lance was ready to assume the starting job after so little experience.
“He shouldn’t be. He hasn’t gone through it enough. I believe in him as a man, as a person. I believe in his talent. I don’t think he is going to make or break our season, just like in 2019 and last year; I didn’t think Jimmy was going to make or break our season.
“But what sucks is when you’re learning how to play, and you’re not there yet, how do you not get worse sometimes when that pressure’s on you, and you need to go through the growing pains?”
Shanahan is doing his best to lower the expectations for Lance, but he and the 49ers know the truth. The NFL is designed for the quarterback to make or break a team’s season. As much as they have almost bucked that trend in their deep playoff runs, they acknowledged that truth when they traded three first-round, picks to move up for Jimmy Garoppolo’s replacement. Hopefully, they acquired a quarterback that will make their season instead of breaking it.
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