San Francisco 49ers quarterback Trey Lance has started to attract serious attention from the media, as many analysts are coming on board with the 22-year-old's potential as he enters his second NFL season.
During a recent appearance on NFL Total Access, former Green Bay Packers receiver James Jones continued the trend, going as far as comparing Lance to his former quarterback, Aaron Rodgers.
"I believe we're looking at a bonafide superstar [in Lance], like Patrick Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers," Jones said. "We had a small sample size of Aaron Rodgers, but all you heard out of the locker room and the people around Aaron was, 'Just wait. You wait and see.' That was the same thing for Patrick Mahomes, small sample size, but everybody's like, 'Just wait. This kid's going to be special.' And that's the same thing that's coming out of the 49ers locker room about Trey Lance."
Jones pointed to Lance's traits and capabilities, as well as head coach Kyle Shanahan, as the reasoning behind placing Lance in the same company as other superstars.
"Everybody's saying he has superstar written all over him," Jones said. "There's nothing he can't do. He can make plays with his legs [and has a] really strong arm. [Head coach] Kyle Shanahan's going to put him in really good situations. I think he's going to be in that category, years down the line, talking about him like we talk about Patrick Mahomes & Aaron Rodgers."
Lance's two-dimensional ability was put on display last season, as he rushed for 89 yards on 16 attempts in his first start against the Arizona Cardinals, while throwing for 248 yards on 16/23 passing during his second start against the Houston Texans.
Unlike the other quarterbacks taken early in his draft class, Lance has minimal NFL starting experience, but is set to be the signal caller for the 49ers in 2022, as the team continues to try and ship veteran quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who had surgery on his injured shoulder earlier this offseason.