NFL Films guru Greg Cosell talked to Matt Maiocco about how the 49ers offense will look with Trey Lance under center compared to Jimmy Garoppolo and how Lance can be a versatile “weapon” in the mold of Josh Allen.
John Lynch, the rest of the 49ers' front office and their bevy of scouts came to the same conclusion that most have about the 2022 NFL Draft: The quarterback class just isn't that good.
When asked Wednesday if that played a role into the 49ers trading up in last year's draft to select QB Trey Lance out of North Dakota State with the No. 3 overall pick, the general manager danced around the question while making the answer pretty clear.
"Yeah, we always task our college staff with forecasting," Lynch said at the NFL Scouting Combine. "What are we looking at next year? Even the year beyond. As you get a couple years out it's a little tougher. There's so many things that go into that.
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"But yes, I think you're not doing your job if you're not doing that. I'll leave it at that."
Then, his final two words didn't leave it at that and did indeed answer the question without any more explanation.
"But, yes," Lynch concluded.
And rightfully so.
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Former NFL scout and NFL Media's draft expert Daniel Jeremiah released his latest rankings of the top 50 prospects in the 2022 draft on Monday, and his top quarterback, Kenny Pickett, is listed at No. 28. When Jeremiah dropped his third iteration of his rankings one month before the draft last year, Lance was his No. 7 overall prospect. He also was his third-ranked QB behind Trevor Lawrence (No. 1) and Zach Wilson (No. 4).
Matt Corral, Jeremiah's third-ranked QB right now, is seen as the 34th-best prospect in the draft.
Lawrence wound up being the top pick in the draft for the Jacksonville Jaguars, with Wilson going right behind him to the New York Jets. The 49ers moved up from No. 12 to No. 3 in a trade with the Miami Dolphins, and also sent them two more future first-round picks. The first-rounder San Francisco gave Miami for the 2022 draft is the No. 29 overall pick after the 49ers went all the way to the NFC Championship Game.
As Lawrence and Wilson were named their team's starters, along with Mac Jones for the New England Patriots and eventually Justin Fields for the Chicago Bears and Davis Mills for the Houston Texans, Lance was unlike the majority of his rookie QB class and spent most of the season watching from the sidelines as Jimmy Garoppolo's backup.
Lance started two games in which Garoppolo was injured. In those two starts, he completed 59.6 percent of his passes for 441 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. He also carried the ball 24 times for 120 yards in the two starts. Lance lost a Week 5 start to the Arizona Cardinals. After not attempting a pass in nearly three months, he then led the 49ers to a win against the Texans in Week 17 that was full of playoff implications.
In that Week 17 win, Lance completed 69.6 percent of his passes for 249 yards and two touchdowns and was intercepted once.
Overall, Lance appeared in six games. He had a 57.7 completion percentage while throwing for 603 yards and five touchdowns and was intercepted twice. The dual-threat QB also added 168 yards on the ground and one rushing TD.
RELATED: Lynch explains timing on Jimmy G's surgery, trade interest in QB
Garoppolo still has one more year on his contract for the 49ers, however, Lynch again made it more clear that Lance is ready to take over as their starting QB in 2022 as they look to trade Jimmy G. Lynch even tossed out the name of a recent NFL MVP who had to wait a year to take the reins at the position.
"I think he’s just got that makeup that the great ones do," Lynch said Wednesday morning on the NFL Network’s Good Morning Football. "We can only hope he can be Patrick Mahomes or anything close to that, and he’s going to get his chance to go show that."
From the eyes of experts and evaluators, there doesn't seem to be any of those in the 2022 draft. The 49ers believe they just might have a special one on their hands with Lance, and while looking ahead, they had to pounce at the chance of possibly adding a star quarterback on a rookie deal.
The rest is up to Lance in making Lynch, coach Kyle Shanahan and everybody else look like they made the right decision.