The San Francisco 49ers' second-year quarterback, Trey Lance, has been the target of much scrutiny this offseason. A lot of it seems based on the team's decision to hold onto veteran Jimmy Garoppolo without fully considering why. Garoppolo remains on the 49ers roster because no one has made a trade offer, not necessarily because the coaches doubt Lance's readiness.
Of course, that could be speculation too. However, it's based on the narrative the 49ers have laid out and not the narrative created by the national media.
Speaking of national media, Chris Simms of NBC Sports created some chatter after ranking Lance at No. 31 in his top 40 quarterback ranking. His argument seemed to involve the small playing-time sample size combined with what he saw from the young quarterback last season in his 178 total snaps.
This week, Simms further explained Lance's placement within his quarterback ranking, clearly indicating that he feels the 49ers drafting the young passer may have been a mistake.
"I'm not sold on the whole potential thing with Trey Lance, everybody," Simms said on his podcast, Chris Simms Unbuttoned. "That's why he's [ranked at] 31. ... I'm not sold on his potential. I would never draft this guy at quarterback. I [can't find] any more ways to say it.
"There is flaws in his game that I can't put him up in front of it before I see it. ... [T]he stats at the end of the day [against the Houston Texans] look good, but there was also completions that weren't that pretty, that were still completions. There was still some decisions that should have been interceptions that weren't. And there were still some completions that were just underwhelming."
The 49ers begin organized team activities this week. Reporters will be able to watch Tuesday's practice, and a strong outing by Lance might go a long way toward quieting his doubters.
Simms added: "I see the potential. I get it. I'm just not sure it's going to all come together. That's all I'm saying. The throwing is a little all over the place. I'm not sure I'm sold on the athlete being as great of an athlete as maybe we all thought of. So, that's where I've just got to see a little bit more."
You can listen to the entire podcast below. The portion about Lance begins at about the 1:10:00 mark.
