Trey Lance is officially on the clock to end the 49ers’ Lombardi Trophy drought after his professional career began at 5:41 p.m. Thursday.
But perhaps not so fast.
Lance, who turns 21 next month, is a young and relatively unproven product from North Dakota State who could use his rookie season learning behind incumbent starter Jimmy Garoppolo.
“I’m not going to get ahead of myself. We’re Hour 1, Night 1,” Lance said on a post-pick video conference call. “My biggest thing is to get in there and learn as much as I can. … I don’t think I could be in a better situation. I’m just super exicted to get there and learn.”
Lance didn’t discover the 49ers’ intentions — which they established back in January — until they were on the draft clock.
“That was a special moment, to be able to talk to him, because I think it was true surprise,” general manager John Lynch said. “He had a hunch, I believe.”
Lance (6-foot-4, 224 pounds) beat out Alabama’s Mac Jones and Ohio State’s Justin Fields, the two quarterbacks who faced off in January’s College Football Playoff national championship game, which Alabama won.
The Niners were rumored to be focused on Jones, but Shanahan essentially ridiculed that speculation during his Thursday night call with reporters.
“This is something that started since the season ended and our evaluation with people,” Shanahan said. “We’ve been very high on Trey since the beginning, since Day 1.”
Another quarterback option the 49ers considered was Aaron Rodgers, the Green Bay Packers’ reigning NFL MVP who thought a trade home to Northern California was in the works Wednesday, according to Fox Sports’ Trey Wingo.
Lynch confirmed checking with the Packers after “reading the tea leaves,” adding: “Yeah we inquired and it was a quick end to the conversation. It wasn’t happening. As we said, we’ve been convicted and excited for a long, long time, so we went right back to where we’ve been and that’s really excited about adding Trey Lance to the 49ers.”
Ending the 49ers’ 26-year Super Bowl drought is a task neither Garoppolo nor 19 other starting quarterbacks have accomplished since Steve Young produced the 49ers’ fifth Super Bowl win.
In that 1994 training camp with the 49ers was Lance’s father, Carlton, who auditioned for two weeks as a safety.
Kyle Shanahan was a ball boy in that camp; his father, Mike, was the offensive coordinator. Another player was Jerry Rice, who celebrated Lance’s selection Thursday by tweeting: “Diamond in the rough. Amazing decision by the Niners. #49ers Let’s go!”
The pick is in! @treylance09 Diamond in the rough. Amazing decision by the Niners. #49ers Let's go!
— Jerry Rice (@JerryRice) April 30, 2021
Trey Lance has a championship to his credit, albeit in college football’s second-tier Football Championship Subdivision from the 2019 season in his only full season starting for the Bison. Lance played only one game last fall as the program opted out amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I loved his natural ability to play the position, which was very impressive,” Shanahan said. “And then you add on a type of running element, which I’ve always been intrigued with, but when you’ve got a guy who’s got the skillset as far as speed and size, to where you’re not going to make him a runner, but if you get in certain formations, you will run him if they don’t honor him, and now everything’s different.”
Shanahan acknowledged that Lance playing only a year “at a smaller school” will take work to prepare him for the NFL, a maturation process that worked to perfection with the Kansas City Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes under Alex Smith.
Lance won over Shanahan beyond his on-field prowess.
“He comes from a very good family,” said Shanahan, who along with Lynch met Lance’s parents at North Dakota State’s pro day earlier this month. “He’s very impressive in terms of his intellect, how he deals with people and social situations.
“I looked at him as a CEO of a company, if I ever knew anything about that stuff. He’s a hell of a quarterback and is someone I believe in and someone that I want to go to work with.”
Lance said his biggest focus is to earn mutual respect among teammates and make sacrifices for them as the quarterback.
“But for me, it’s about treating people the right way and leaving an impact on them that’s bigger than football,” Lance added. “I don’t believe I’m on earth to be a football player.”
Treyyyyyyy Areaaaa!!! Let’s get it youngin congrats
— Jason Verrett (@Jfeeva_2) April 30, 2021
More pressure comes from having to live up to the price he cost the 49ers from a March 26 blockbuster trade, when they jumped up from No. 12 to No. 3 at a franchise-mortgaging cost (first-round picks each of the next three years plus a 2022 third-rounder in a deal with the Miami Dolphins).
As for Garoppolo’s future, Shanahan is counting on him to return and not only mentor but compete with Lance.
“We made this move, it’s obvious, what I hope and believe in with this guy coming in,” Shanahan said. “But it would be a very tough situation if Jimmy’s not on our team.
“I want Jimmy to be here and I want this kid to be brought along, I want to see how he does. If it turns into a competition, I’d be excited about that, if he showed he was ready for that. I expect Jimmy to be here and I’d be surprised if he wasn’t.”
This draft saw Lance as the third quarterback taken, after Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson, as scripted, went 1-2 to the Jacksonville Jaguars and the New York Jets.
In trading up to No. 3, Shanahan and Lynch received the endorsement to do so from 49ers CEO Jed York, and the bigger ask may have been to retain Garoppolo, who has a no-trade clause and is slated to make $25 million this year.
What followed was prompt speculation that the 49ers wanted Jones. Shanahan marveled at erroneous reports.
Lance is the eighth quarterback drafted in 49ers history with a first-round pick. Previous choices at No. 3 overall were Y.A. Tittle (1951) and John Brodie (1957). The 49ers have drafted 27 quarterbacks since 1970, with Joe Montana being the only one to make the Hall of Fame and Pro Bowl as a 49er.
Lance is their highest-drafted quarterback since Alex Smith was picked No. 1 overall in 2005, ahead of Rodgers.
Here are other noteworthy mentions about Lance, as listed in last week’s profile:
— Led North Dakota State to the FCS national championship his lone full season, in 2019, and he did so with astonishing stats. He passed for 28 touchdowns with no interceptions en route to 2,786 yards; he ran for 1,100 yards and 14 touchdowns.
— He played only one game last fall because of NDSU’s opt-out schedule. Lance improved to 17-0 as a NDSU starter with that win over Central Arkansas (149 passing yards, two TDs; 143 rushing yards, two TDs). He never faced FBS competition in college.
— First freshman to win the FCS’ Walter Payton Award, which the 49ers’ Garoppolo won in 2013 at Eastern Illinois.
— Wasn’t heavily recruited out of Marshall High (150 miles southwest of Minneapolis) and was asked by the University of Minnesota to play safety.
— Would be second North Dakota State Bison to go in the draft’s top-three (Carson Wentz, No. 2 in 2016 to Philadelphia). Only five quarterbacks from non-FBS schools have been drafted in the first round since 1979.
— In the FCS title win over James Madison, Lance had 30 carries for 166 yards while completing 6-of-10 passes for 72 yards. (Possible 49ers’ comparisons: Colin Kaepernick rushing for 181 yards in his playoff debut against Green Bay, and Jimmy Garoppolo completing 6-of-8 passes in a January 2019 NFC title win over the Packers.)