There have been a lot of Trey Lance skeptics and naysayers this offseason. Last week, the 22-year-old San Francisco 49ers quarterback told reporters that he isn't concerned with the offseason noise. Instead, he's used this time to allow his thumb to heal, and he's focused on improving.
Count Emmanuel Acho of FOX Sports among Lance's skeptics. Neither he nor his Speak For Yourself co-host, Marcellus Wiley, are confident in the former No. 3 overall pick, who is expected to be the 49ers' starter come Week 1.
Acho and Wiley went through the quarterbacks entering year two and shared their confidence levels for each on a scale from zero to ten.
"One play Trey—two out of ten," Acho declared. "And only because I'm trying to be somewhat nice. Trey Lance, from everything I've heard from people within the locker room, people outside the locker room, he just ain't it. ... There's a reason they call him 'One-play Trey,' and there's a reason he only started [two games] last year ... because he's just not like that."
Acho obviously doesn't expand on with whom within the locker room he has been speaking. It's worth noting that the coaching staff and Lance's teammates have consistently praised the quarterback and expressed excitement in Lance's potential.
"Think about this for a second, you all," Acho continued. "The Niners chose to play Jimmy G with a broken thumb over their first-round, top-three overall pick in Trey Lance. There is a reason. If you are a first-round pick, top five, they want to start you. The only reason you don't start is if you quite literally do not have the talent so much so that you can't. I've got him at a two."
Seemingly not considered by Acho is the fact that the 49ers owned a loaded roster when they drafted Lance. That's typically not the case for teams drafting in the top five. And San Francisco had to trade up to get to the No. 3 overall pick. The Niners were a playoff-caliber team coming off a six-win season only because of a historic number of injuries in 2020.
Acho's co-host at least mentions that while expressing his uncertainty in Lance. Wiley is a bit more optimistic about the young 49ers quarterback, sharing that his confidence level is at a five due to Lance's potential talent.
"Everyone also talks about how his ceiling is so high," Wiley adds. "And maybe in that situation of the 49ers, that circumstance [of being talented] is why Trey Lance has not been on the field fully. You know how it goes. If we're on a team that has Super Bowl aspirations, we have a Super Bowl roster, we don't have time to slow down. ... I don't know if they trust the rookie to do that.
"With an offseason to go through this, and then him coming back, I think that they think that this is the guy for them. But for me, I don't know what to think, so I've got to go with a five."
As for the other second-year quarterbacks, Acho says his confidence level in Trevor Lawrence is at a six while Wiley is at an eight. Acho is at a seven when it comes to Zach Wilson while Wiley is at a three. When it comes to Justin Fields, Acho is at a five while Wiley is at a seven.
Topping their confidence scales is Mac Jones. Both are at a nine when it comes to the New England Patriots quarterback.
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