Former NFL coach believes 49ers should find ways to use Trey Lance

Eric Mangini coached in the NFL from 1995 through 2015. He was part of three Super Bowl champion teams and was the AFC Coach of the Year in 2006. He spent three seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, including 2015 as the team's defensive coordinator.

Mangini, now an analyst with The 33rd Team, believes the Niners must find a way to utilize quarterback Trey Lance.

San Francisco made Lance the No. 3 overall pick in 2021. The quarterback entered the league with only one full collegiate season of experience. While raw, some evaluators, including 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, fell in love with Lance's potential. Other draft-eligible quarterbacks may have seemed more NFL-ready, but many believed Lance's potential ceiling was higher.

Fast forward two years. Lance is competing with Sam Darnold for the QB2 job behind Brock Purdy. If he secures the backup job and the 49ers hold onto the third-year quarterback, Mangini believes the team should find a way to get him onto the field.

"In my mind, Trey's got as much opportunity as either the other two guys to play and to play a lot this season," Mangini recently said. "And even if he isn't the starter, why not take advantage of the skill set that he did show in college? His ability to run with the ball, his ability to make plays with his feet, and put a package in for him with the idea that he can contribute in a meaningful way to the offense.

"He can be another element that teams have to prepare for. And then, if he does have to go in the game as a starter at some point, he's got some experience, so he's not going cold. It seems like that's the way that makes sense. And I understand you may not want to ruffle Brock Purdy's feathers, but we're not talking about a 10-year vet here."

The 49ers tried something similar with Lance during his rookie 2021 season, inserting him into games in key scenarios to throw off opposing defenses. Lance played 178 snaps in 2021 and even started two games. Unknown at the time was that the rookie quarterback was still dealing with a preseason finger injury, a setback that would last well into the following offseason.

Finally healthy, Lance entered the 2022 season as the 49ers' starter but suffered a season-ending ankle injury during Week 2. Mangini isn't counting Lance out in any quarterback competition.

"I would think it's got to be open," he said, "because if you're the GM or if you're the owner and you drafted Trey Lance and you gave up what you gave up, you believed deeply that this player has a chance to be exceptional. So you want to be able to at least get a sample size that's meaningful to let him prove out one way or the other."

While Purdy has twice as many NFL starts under his belt as Lance, it is still a small sample size. However, it's enough to show Mangini that Purdy deserves the chance to start.

"It's hard to bet against him after seven [full] games because of how successful he was, and he's been successful in that system," Mangini said. "So they have a great feel for how to use him."