49ers DL Arik Armstead Believes "The Sky is the Limit" for Trey Lance

This offseason for the 49ers has seen an uptick in praise for Trey Lance.

Kyle Shanahan is the one who started it all by coming to the defense of Lance regarding his fractured finger being detrimental to his performance. Then, George Kittle followed up by saying Lance is "significantly better" than last season.

Now, it is Arik Armstead is dishing out some fairly high praise onto Lance. Armstead recently appeared on the Up and Adams show with Kay Adams where he stated that believes that "the sky is the limit" for Lance along with citing what Lance needs in order to get better.

A full healthy Trey Lance is already showing great signs of improvement heading into year 3.

And @arikarmstead & @gkittle46 have taken notice.

📺: @FanDuelTV | @heykayadams pic.twitter.com/8rOvYPPky5
— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) June 14, 2023

"I've seen a young guy come in and really start to mature," said Armstead. "You got to remember that Trey is still really extremely young and didn't have much experience, and the more experience you stack the better you are. I think that he's had a tremendous OTAs and looked very well. You know, I'm really excited for him and his career, and so I think the sky is the limit for Trey and I think he's an extreme talent that just needed to stack up those reps."

This is great for Lance that he is finally getting outspoken support from the stars and leaders on the 49ers. He could've used this last year instead of having reports of some of the locker room wanting Jimmy Garoppolo over him. But now it appears that he's got some traction with the leaders and that can only benefit him.

However, Armstead's response stands out, specifically when he talked about experience. You need experience to improve, which has been the biggest "no duh" in regards to Lance. That is why criticizing him so early is irresponsible and unfair. He was never going to ascend greatly through practice reps. I'm sure it has helped him a bit at least, but really he was never going to hit major strides until he got actual game experience. Armstead points that out being what Lance needs in order for him to progress.

It's just unfortunate because Lance is probably not going to get that experience this year. With the way things are trending, Brock Purdy looks poised to start Week 1 after all, so unless he gets injured again, Lance isn't seeing the field anytime soon. He does, however, have the preseason to take some chances and that is going to be his main source to showcase and improve. If he does end up getting to start Week 1 with Purdy still on the mend, then he is going to have to do his utmost to keep it, and there won't be any rookie growing pains allowed either.