The upcoming 2022 NFL season will seemingly be the first where San Francisco 49ers quarterback Trey Lance will be given the full reins as the starting quarterback of the team.
Fellow quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was excused from 49ers minicamp on Monday as he rehabs from offseason shoulder surgery. It is expected that the team will wait until Garoppolo fully recovers from surgery to hopefully spark trade talks with quarterback-needy teams before Week 1.
As a result, Lance will be receiving all of the first-team snaps for the 49ers this offseason. And he is even receiving some mentorship from a legendary 49ers quarterback of the past.
Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young has reportedly been chatting with Lance quite a bit this offseason, and he seems to be very confident in Lance’s talents heading into his first season as the full-time starter.
“I have 100-percent confidence that Trey will figure out where to throw it,” Young said last week at the Dwight Clark Legacy Series event in Walnut Creek. “The challenge for Trey is once he knows, then how to deliver it, and that’s another great talent that you have to have and develop.”
Lance seems to be very receptive to the advice from Young, as he said that his ears are fully open to any critiques from the Hall of Fame quarterback.
“We got to talk a decent amount,” Lance told NBC Sports Bay Area on Tuesday. “Obviously, a guy like that, it means the world any time he says anything about me. I have nothing but respect for a guy like that, everything that he’s done and having been in this building and playing for this organization.”
“For me, I’m going to take everything I possibly can from a guy like that. Anything he has to say, anything he has to offer me, I’m welcoming that with open arms.”
Given the 49ers’ success last season in making it to the NFC Championship Game, the sky seems to be the limit in terms of how far the team can make it next season.
If Lance can impress in his second year in the NFL, great things may be in store for fans in the Bay Area going forward.