The San Francisco 49ers are likely set to have a quarterback competition on their hands between second-year player Brock Purdy and former first-round pick Trey Lance.
Opinions are all over the place on who is the best long-term option for the team, but a significant claim made about Lance has the attention of the NFL world.
Lance began as the 49ers starting quarterback last season but was forced to miss the majority of the year due to a gruesome ankle injury. Then Purdy came in later in the season and helped the 49ers reach the NFC Championship game before himself suffering a severe injury in that game.
Lance has been working on both rehabbing from that injury and improving as a passer, which is reportedly going extremely well.
His quarterbacks’ coach, Jeff Christensen, revealed in an interview with Matt Barrows of The Athletic that Lance has made a “substantial jump” this offseason in large part thanks to working with Kansas City Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes.
“I said, ‘Watch this. Watch what he does here,’” Christensen recounted. “It was something I was telling him to do that he wasn’t quite doing. And then he saw Patrick apply it perfectly. And I think that visual buy-in, that mental buy-in, helped him past that mental hump.
“To his credit, he just kept getting better. Over the last seven days, every day was a substantial jump.”
Christensen went on to say that the “jump” has come thanks to Lance retooling his throwing mechanics.
Many around the NFL world were excited to hear of these improvements. Others were certainly skeptical that they will last.
And that’s all he needed to make that next step lol working on his throwing mechanics will surely put him past purdy https://t.co/XlhEhHLb2z
— Booker D (@djsahnn7) May 19, 2023
Ahh the ol he retooled his throwing motion facade. He will revert to his reactionary motion the second it becomes a live fire exercise.
— James Moore 🇺🇲 (@JimMooreUSA) May 19, 2023
Love these “jumps” in the off season. Zach Wilson had a big jump last off season too
— Bok Yacht Club (@JetsNolesNYROrl) May 19, 2023
I know what it looks like when an organization is trying to force a trade lol. https://t.co/CHzIbE1i3u
— Demarco (@demarco_82) May 19, 2023
If you like "best shape of their life" season, you're gonna love "he's made huge strides as a QB" season, available at NFL facilities now! https://t.co/FX8MVolzPs
— Brendan Sugrue (@BrendanSugrue) May 19, 2023
“Someone come make an offer” https://t.co/NvlHLK5IHy
— Jakub Lieght (@McLeicht) May 19, 2023
Lance has been effective with his legs in his first two NFL seasons. However, his accuracy has certainly not been a strength of his game. He has completed just 54.9 percent of his passes over his first two seasons.
If Lance has indeed improved drastically as a passer, he could have a very good shot to steal the starting quarterback job away from Purdy.
