Trey Lance Tore Two Ankle Ligaments and will Miss Four to Six Months

Lance was running the ball more than 13 times per start before he went down -- more than any quarterback ever.

So now we know why the 49ers shut down Trey Lance for the season.

Lance didn't merely break his ankle last Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks. He tore two ligaments in his ankle as well -- the deltoid and the sesamoid, according to the NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, who says Lance's recovery will take four to six months.

Lance injured his ankle running for two yards between the tackles on second and 8 in the first quarter. It was his third run between the tackles of the game already, which means an injury to Lance seemed inevitable. Of course, no one expected he would suffer such a serious injury.

Lance was running the ball more than 13 times per start before he went down -- more than any quarterback ever. More than Tim Tebow, who was a terrible passer. The 49ers clearly felt Lance wasn't developed enough as a passer yet, so he had to run. Which means last year when Lance was supposed to be developing on the scout team was a waste, because he didn't develop.

Now he won't get to develop this year, either. So the 49ers will have wasted the first two seasons of his career. And he still is extremely raw and inexperienced. Will they make him the starting quarterback next season? If so, will they run him repeatedly between the tackles? Or did the Trey Lance project fall apart before it even got started?

I'll guess we'll find out eventually. The 49ers have some big decisions to make.