Trey Lance came in at No. 38 in NBC Sports analyst Chris Simms' ranking of the top 40 NFL quarterbacks. By comparison, New England Patriots rookie quarterback Mac Jones sits at No. 30 on the list. Kellen Mond, a third-round pick by the Minnesota Vikings, sits one spot ahead of Lance, at No. 37.

Jimmy Garoppolo is ranked No. 21.


Simms has been somewhat critical of the San Francisco 49ers' selection of Lance. It's not that the analyst dislikes the 21-year-old quarterback. He just has questions about Lance, mostly due to the level of competition he played against at North Dakota State.

In his latest Chris Simms Unbuttoned podcast, Simms was asked by a fan whether he liked or disliked Lance's ability to use his feet to make things happen on offense. The analyst has seemingly been complimentary and critical of that specific skill from Lance.

"I've always liked his running ability," Simms explained. "I think it's overrated, I guess is what I'm saying. I'd like to see it, yeah. ... The competition was less than (great). I mean, he's playing linebackers that are me. Sorry. And me is not that impressive at linebacker.

"I felt like [his running ability] was overblown during the draft process. He's certainly athletic and can be, yes, a really dangerous runner running the football on, especially with (Kyle) Shanahan's schematics behind it and all of that.

"I mean, people at first were trying to make him like he was Lamar Jackson. That's probably where I got this guy (asking the question) thinking the wrong thing, where I was going, 'Wait, everybody pump the brakes. He's not Lamar Jackson here.' I mean, Lamar Jackson was doing it against Florida State with Jalen Ramsey and Derwin James. And they were chasing him, and they couldn't tackle him. Sorry, I haven't seen that from Trey Lance."


I'm not sure how many people were comparing Lance's running ability to Jackson. That certainly wasn't the case with some of the more reputable scouting reports on the quarterback leading into the draft. But apparently, Simms heard that somewhere.

"Yes, I think [Lance is] going to be a good runner," Simms added. "I'm just saying, let's pump the brakes on calling him Lamar or Michael Vick quit yet."

You can listen to the entire podcast below. The discussion surrounding Lance begins at about the 58-minute mark.



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