A lot goes into the evaluation of a draft prospect. You can't just look at the film and identify the most physically talented players. There is a mental aspect that is crucial to success in the NFL. Studying that means talking to each player, speaking with those who know him best, and those who coached him.
San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan spent months doing their homework on Trey Lance before making the quarterback the No. 3 overall pick in last year's draft. They were confident that Lance could eventually be among the best in the league if put into the right situation.
Obviously, there were concerns, as there are with any prospect. Lance's abbreviated collegiate experience was one concern. The level of competition he faced was another. But everything else Lynch and Shanahan learned along the way gave them confidence that the opportunity to acquire Lance was too great to pass up.
After serving as Jimmy Garoppolo's backup last season and learning Shanahan's offense, the 49ers seem confident that Lance is ready to start. Lance started just two games last season, playing in a total of 178 snaps through six appearances. However, he developed in practice by mimicking opposing quarterbacks on the scout team.
How do the 49ers know Lance is ready?
"The answer is you never know until you know," Lynch told Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area while laughing. "But you have belief. You have faith. There's indications, there's traits, there's qualities, there's competitive greatness that you see in the brief glimpses that you did see him play. There's practice—that really does matter. There's development. There's all those things that go in.
"And then there's our initial evaluation. We put so much time into Trey. Knowing what we thought he was, and then meeting him and saying, 'OK, what is he really?' You feel even stronger about what that is."
The 49ers are discussing trade options for Garoppolo, clearing the path for Lance to lead the team. While some have been critical of Shanahan's development plan, feeling that Lance should have been inserted into games more often to gain experience, the coach stuck with the plan he laid out after drafting the young quarterback.
"We do have a tremendous amount of faith and belief that despite the fact that he hasn't played a lot of football, we're going to have an excellent quarterback on our hands for a long time," Lynch continued. "As for what else happens in that whole equation, I don't know. But right now, we're really happy with Trey and excited to see his growth from year one to year two."
A year ago, the 49ers liked Lance so much that they traded away their first-round picks through 2023 and a third-rounder to move up to get him. So it says a lot that the team is even more excited about the quarterback now.
"We think there's so much to like, and now he's just got to put it all together," Lynch added. "Like I said, I believe, despite him not having a ton of action in year one, that there was a tremendous amount of growth, and he's going to be ready."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Lynch on the 49ers Talk podcast below. It begins at about the 15:45 mark.
