Third-year San Francisco 49ers quarterback Trey Lance went from being unquestioned starter this time last year to competing for the QB2 job with veteran journeyman Sam Darnold.
It’s been a pretty big fall for the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. It appears that this has continued through the early portion of training camp. David Lombardi of The Athletic noted that Lance struggled on Friday, completing just 1-of-4 passes with two of his incompletions being seen as easy conversions.
In fact, Lance threw the least number of passes compared to Purdy (11) and Darnold (seven) on Friday. It’s the clearest indication yet this summer that he’s falling behind on the 49ers’ depth chart.
But Lance appears to be taking it all in stride after missing all but two games of his sophomore campaign to an ankle injury.
“Just taking it one day at a time,” Lance told reporters Friday when asked about his spot on the 49ers’ depth chart. “I’m very present-mind focused. Every rep, one rep at a time, one day at a time, one meeting at a time. Whatever it is, I truly believe everything works out exactly how it’s supposed to. So as long as I control what I can control, that’s all I can worry about.”
Since returning to practice on Thursday after suffering an elbow injury in the NFC Championship Game, sophomore quarterback Brock Purdy has taken all of the first-team reps.
Meanwhile, Lance and Darnold have been alternating second-team reps throughout the summer session. Some have even come to the conclusion that Darnold is the odds-on choice to be No. 2 behind Purdy.
For Lance’s part, he spent the offseason working with personal quarterback coach Jeff Christensen, who retooled his elongated throwing motion, among other things.
“The game has slowed down a lot,” Lance told reporters. “Just going to continue to get better, though. … It’s more my feet, honestly, than anything from the last couple of years. But, yeah, I don’t find myself liking to watch the mechanics side of the last couple of years’ reps. I feel like I’m in a much, much better place now, for sure.”
Related: Ranking all 32 NFL starting QBs
Trey Lance’s spot on the San Francisco 49ers’ roster is iffy
Lance’s optimism aside, the first few days of 49ers training camp have just been a continuation of rumors about his status with San Francisco moving forward.
The 49ers are going to have to make a decision if Lance can’t beat Darnold out less than 2.5 years after they exhausted a huge draft haul to trade up for the young quarterback.
It must be noted that the North Dakota State product has thrown all of 102 passes in two NFL seasons. Dating back to the end of the 2019 season in college, that number stands at a mere 132 passes. Heck, he’s thrown 420 passes since high school.
Trey Lance NFL stats: 54.9% completion, 797 yards, 6 total TD, 3 INT, 84.5 QB rating
The larger question here is whether San Francisco can get anything of substance for Lance should the team decide to move off him. Back in the spring, 49ers general manager John Lynch indicated that there wasn’t much interest from other teams.
Regardless of Lance’s positive attitude, continued struggles moving forward in training camp and the preseason will be telling as the regular season approaches.