Trey Lance shows promise in preseason debut, but there are still some areas to improve
Trey Lance’s first training camp with the 49ers has featured a little bit of everything: highlight throws, the ability to make reads and progressions ahead of most rookies, and athleticism that could open up coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense in ways Jimmy Garoppolo can’t.
There’s also areas in Lance’s game that need refinement. Those areas were also on display during the rookie’s preseason debut Saturday against the Kansas City Chiefs in a 19-16 loss.
Lance had a bit of a roller coaster outing, highlighted by an 80-yard touchdown to Trent Sherfield coming on a throw that went roughly 45 yards downfield, showcasing his arm strength and propensity to hit deep throws.
“He’s a young phenom,” Sherfield said afterwards. “He’s going to be really, really good in this league.”
The touchdown — which caused Levi’s Stadium to erupt along with Lance’s teammates on the sideline — came on a play similar to one dialed up by Shanahan against the Green Bay Packers in November 2019. That touchdown went to George Kittle, running the same route as Sherfield.
But Kittle was uncovered while Sherfield had two defenders in his wake. Lance passed up an opportunity to hit an open Brandon Aiyuk on a much shorter throw toward the left sideline. Instead, Lance let it fly, which he’s had no problem doing on the practice field this summer.
“He’s a good player,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said of Lance. “He looked very poised, composed, and he had a nice play on the firecracker there that he shot down the field.”
Lance said Sherfield was his first read on the play. Sherfield was delayed by a split second because his defender slowed him at the snap with press coverage. The play called for Lance to run play action to his right and roll to the left. Lance had to flip his hips to make the throw back toward the right side of the field.
“We kind of saw it coming, knowing the play and everything,” said Garoppolo, who was animated in his celebration with Lance after the play. “Watching Trent the whole time, he broke the guy off and Trey put a beautiful pass out there. It was really cool.”
It was Lance’s second attempt of the night (the first was a drop by Aiyuk). It traveled longer than any of Garoppolo’s regular season touchdown throws since joining the 49ers, save for a 75-yard score to Emmanuel Sanders in the thrilling win over the Saints in December 2019.
Sacks haunt Lance debut
Lance began by completing 4-of-7 throws. Those three incompletions were on-target passes dropped by his receivers. Then Lance struggled, completing just one of his next seven, before he was replaced by Josh Rosen two series into the second half.
Lance was also sacked four times, continuing a bad theme from training camp behind a porous second-team offensive line. One came on a blitz with an unblocked rusher off the edge. The others were the result of a rough combination: bad offensive line play and Lance not getting rid of the ball soon enough.
“It’s something that I’m going to continue to learn from, get the ball out of hands, get it in (the receivers’) hands,” Lance said. “But the offensive line did a great job today. It’s on me 100 percent as far as protection goes and everything like that. Me using my legs to extend plays, and extend drives. Wish I would have done that a little bit better tonight as well.”
Perhaps that would change if and when Lance works with the starting offensive line. To date, he’s only been given a handful of reps behind Trent Williams, Alex Mack and the first unit (Williams and Mack were given the night off). And all those practice reps have been designed runs, perhaps offering a hint into Shanahan’s plan to use Lance as a situational quarterback during the regular season.
Lance had no rushing attempts Saturday, which figures to be a significant part of his game when the games count. His stat line from Saturday: 5-for-14, 128 yards (with 80 coming on the touchdown), and two passes that were nearly intercepted. Receiver Richie James Jr. dropped a well-thrown ball along the sideline on a third-down that would have kept a drive alive.
“I thought he had a good first day,” Shanahan said. “Still a work in progress. I wanted him to improve. It wasn’t perfect. So until he’s perfect we’re going to keep working on it.”
For now, Shanahan is steadfast in having Garoppolo operate as the starter. He’s said he plans on using Lance in specific packages in the regular season, perhaps to utilize his legs, which could depend on how quickly he develops his full knowledge of the offense.
“I didn’t want it to go perfect for him,” Shanahan said. “You’d like some things for him to learn from.”
Lance needs to adjust to situations
Lance must also get better at playing situationally. He had two opportunities Saturday to run the two-minute drill in the first half. He also started a drive inside his own 1-yard line, where he made a strong throw to reserve tight end Charlie Woerner for a 34 yards.
Lance was on the field for eight series, six of which resulted in punts. He helped lead a field goal drive that began in Kansas City territory following an interception by rookie cornerback Deommodore Lenoir.
“(I) left some really big ones out there that I noticed and we noticed on the sideline,” Lance said. “So, for me, it was frustrating, obviously, leaving those plays out there. I wanted to put more points on the board, put Josh in a better situation coming into the game.
“But at the same time super excited to go watch the tape and learn from everything that I did. Super excited for next week.”
Lance said he planned on watching the tape from the game Saturday night before going to bed. The 49ers will be back on the practice field early next week before a pair of joint practices with the Los Angeles Chargers Thursday and Friday before their preseason contest Sunday, Aug. 22.
The 49ers sat 22 players Saturday and figure to work more of them in during the final two preseason games, which could mean more time for Lance working with a better supporting cast.
With more plays like the 80-yard touchdown, and fewer sacks taken and fewer throws that could have been intercepted, perhaps Lance will have a shot at competing with Garoppolo for the starting job sooner rather than later. In the meantime, the talented No. 3 overall pick will have to hone the fine details before it gets to that point.
