We probably should’ve seen the Trey Lance pick coming.
The 49ers traded a massive haul a month before the draft to get to the No. 3 overall pick. It wasn’t a move up to get lateral at the quarterback position. Head coach Kyle Shanahan wanted an upgrade, and he put it plainly in his press conference with 49ers reporters following the trade.
He said he was looking for the “biggest, fastest, strongest and best quarterback in the pocket.”
Lance is big, fast, strong, and very good inside the pocket. He was handed the keys to the North Dakota State offense in his second year on campus and immediately became a prolific dual-threat signal caller. He spent time under center, turning his back to the defense on play action, and handling responsibilities at the line of scrimmage that not many college signal callers have to deal with.
All the noise over Alabama quarterback never made sense. He’s accurate and smart, for sure, but he doesn’t check any other boxes. Lance checks all the boxes Shanahan ran down immediately after the trade.
Pre-draft smokescreens clouded what was already in plain sight, but the 49ers’ vision was clear from the jump. They wanted a quarterback with elite traits, and they got one in Lance.
