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Trey Lance won’t have to be savior for loaded San Francisco 49ers – NFC West

Trey Lance won't have to be savior for loaded San Francisco 49ers - NFL Nation

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — For most quarterbacks selected in the top three of the NFL draft, the immediate expectation is for them to take downtrodden franchises and elevate them to the league’s loftiest heights.

More often than not, it doesn’t work. It’s why, at the time the San Francisco 49ers used the No. 3 pick in 2021 on quarterback Trey Lance, a whopping 44 quarterbacks had been selected in the top three in the previous 50 NFL drafts and only two starters — Troy Aikman and Peyton Manning — won a Super Bowl with the team that originally drafted them.

The situation in San Francisco is unique. When coach Kyle Shanahan finally, officially declared that these Niners belong to Lance on the opening day of training camp, he wasn’t asking the second-year signal caller to be the franchise savior.

As he explained why the 49ers are turning a team that was minutes away from a second Super Bowl appearance in three years over to an unproven 22-year old, Shanahan pointed to multiple things. A belief in Lance, sure, but nothing stood out more than this: the Niners’ roster is talented enough that Lance doesn’t have to play the hero.

“I feel as good about our roster as I have,” Shanahan said. “I think our team’s in a great spot to turn it over to a quarterback who hasn’t played before.”

The 49ers have a roster that doesn’t look anything like most teams drafting quarterbacks in the top three. Only a year after appearing in Super Bowl LIV, the Niners traded from No. 12 to No. 3 to get Lance, a move they were positioned to make only because of a 2020 season decimated by injuries.

Before the Niners drafted Lance, no quarterback had ever been picked higher than No. 25 by a team that was one full season removed from a Super Bowl. So while Lance will have plenty of pressure in his first full season as San Francisco’s starter, it will be more of the “don’t mess it up” variety than the “please save us” kind.

“I think he’s in probably the best position you could be in as a first-year quarterback with a defense like us and a good O-line and a bunch of weapons,” defensive end Nick Bosa said. “He’s got all the help he needs … I think if he doesn’t make big mistakes, then we’re gonna be in good shape.”

The question then becomes what, exactly, do they need from…

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