The 49ers are hoping to benefit from Trey Lance’s shortened delivery

The 2023 NFL Draft is over. It’s worth noting that some of the players who signed Saturday in the Niners UDFA class will only be attending their rookie minicamp as a “tryout.”

During the draft, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport went on a rant about how he believes the 49ers could take a quarterback on Day 3. Here’s what Kyle Shanahan had to say post-draft about the potential of adding a fourth quarterback:

“Yeah, they are looking to fill everything with the free agents. We’d love to get a fourth guy here. We’ll see which one it is. We’ll be alright, though, in the offseason. We’ll get to training camp. Hopefully, we’ll get [QB] Brock [Purdy] back soon. Regardless, we’d love a fourth guy here. You never know how much we end up doing in the OTAs sessions, but it has been good having two guys out there throwing. They have been on their own. We’ll start with everybody tomorrow where we can actually go out on the field with them as coaches. Hopefully, when it’s said and done, we’ll have a fourth guy.”

San Francisco still hasn’t added a fourth quarterback, but that’s not something that needs to happen anytime soon with a healthy Trey Lance and Sam Darnold in the fold. Per The Athletic’s Matt Barrows, Lance has been working with Patrick Mahomes’ quarterback coach to tighten his throwing motion:

In all practicality, Lance has been fully recovered from his Week 2 ankle injury for more than a month. He spent a chunk of March in the Dallas area working out with Patrick Mahomes and Mahomes’ throwing coach, Christensen, in an effort to shorten his delivery. Lance certainly wasn’t in pads or dealing with pass rushers — he was throwing to high school and college receivers — but he wasn’t restricted in terms of dropbacks or rollouts. Lynch has hinted that the work with Christensen was effective and that it will be apparent when Lance takes the field for OTAs next month.

John Lynch confirmed Saturday that Lance is completely cleared to practice, saying, “he’s been out there throwing and doing everything.” You better believe social media will dissect every 12-second clip released from the team to overanalyze Lance throwing an 8-yard pass.

What we should be keeping an eye on is the consistency in Lance’s mechanics. That’ll start from the ground up, as it does with any position.

Ideally, Lance continues to progress as far as knowing where to go with the ball and processing what the defense does to the point where he’s the only one taking first-team reps. That’s what you want from your former No. 3 overall pick.