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The Most Important Question About Trey Lance

No one seems to be asking it.

Trey Lance is the No. 1 topic of discussion in the NFL right now, and no one knows exactly what to expect from him, so people keep asking negative hypotheticals, mostly for attention.

What if Lance falls on his face?

What if the 49ers just can't win with Lance?

What if Lance loses Week 1 to the Bears?

How short of leash will Lance have?

When will the 49ers bench Lance and turn back to Jimmy Garoppolo?

None of these outcomes seem particularly likely, and they all assume that Lance could be a flat-out bust, as if we didn't see him start two games last season and post a quarterback rating of 97.3 as a 21-year-old rookie. As if a few weeks a go in the preseason we didn't just see him post a quarterback rating of 116.9. I'm not saying Lance is the next Steve Young, but if he were the next Jim Druckenmiller, I think we'd know by now.

Here's a more relevant question about Lance: What if he's just a little bit better than Garoppolo right now?

That's a low bar -- Garoppolo isn't exactly elite. And still the 49ers won nearly 70 percent of their games with him on the field. They almost won the Super Bowl with him -- had a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter against the Chiefs with him. And then they had a lead in the fourth quarter of the NFC Championship with him last year.

If the 49ers can go that far with Garoppolo, and Lance turns out to be even slightly better than him, wouldn't that make the 49ers the team to beat in the NFL this season?

Why isn't anyone asking that question?

What am I missing?