Trey Lance is just 21 years old and he only has two NFL starts under his belt. His experience will grow, though. It could grow quickly if Lance is the Week 1 starter in September, as most expect him to be.
Lance spent his rookie season as Jimmy Garoppolo's backup, learning from the veteran quarterback, studying the playbook, and running the scout team. Most of his reps in 2021 came during practice. On Thursday, Colin Cowherd of The Herd asked 49ers tight end George Kittle about the differences between Garoppolo and Lance during those practices.
"I would say the big difference is Trey's got a little more zing on [his passes]," Kittle responded. "He definitely has a big arm. He can make throws all over the field, which is really cool to see. Jimmy can, too; they just do it differently. Trey moves around a lot better. He's kind of a freak athlete. I'm excited to see Trey's improvement, really."
If Lance is the 49ers' starter in 2022, the young quarterback is confident he'll be ready.
"I'm going to be ready to go Week 1, without a doubt," Lance said on Thursday during an interview with NFL Network. "I'm super excited for the opportunity. I feel like I learned a lot. I'll continue to learn. But yeah, excited to get it going again."
All the potential is there. Few doubt that. Lance just needs to develop into the player all of his teammates believe he can be. Fans saw glimpses of that potential last season, especially during the second half against the Houston Texans.
Garoppolo succeeded at keeping his starting job all season—much longer than most predicted. He and Lance became close friends. Lance consistently credits Garoppolo for being a great mentor and helping him develop as an NFL quarterback.
Kittle feels Garoppolo had a lot to teach Lance, and there are areas of Garoppolo's game that the rookie quarterback should incorporate into his own if he hopes to take his level of play to the next level.
"He just has to learn our offense," Kittle shared. "And he has to learn how to make the right reads to get the ball out quick because that's what Jimmy's very good at, is getting the ball out quick. I'm looking forward to Trey's progress.
"What I love about Trey is you can tell he loves the game of football. You can tell he wants to get better. He's not cocky by any means. He is confident. But he's got a lot of the great attributes that I think make him a really good football player."