Is it a Big Deal That Trey Lance Won't be a Captain for the 49ers?

Captain controversy?

The 49ers have officially named their team captains for the 2022 regular season.

Arik Armstead, Fred Warner, Trent Williams, Jimmie Ward, George Kittle, and newly voted Nick Bosa are this year's captains for the red and gold. Six players will don the "C" on their chest to represent their captaincy, but one player who could be viewed as a snub is Trey Lance. Typically quarterbacks are locks to be captains, so seeing Lance not voted as one of the six can appear head-scratching.

Is it a big deal that Lance won't be a captain for the 49ers this year?

Not at all. In fact, Lance was very close to becoming one. He just fell short of one spot. That alone is pretty impressive for a player who is going into his first season as the starting quarterback after having a redshirt rookie season. Any "deal" being made out of this just looks like fake outrage. This should be viewed as anything groundbreaking.

"He was seventh in the voting," head coach Kyle Shanahan said. "I just didn't want to put seven on there -- Deebo was eighth. I just wanted to go with six. They don't allow eight to the coin toss I don't believe. It's also his first year starting for us. There's not many rookies who end up being the captains. I know this is his second year, but he's a rookie for us in terms of this is his first time being our starting quarterback."

Lance has to earn this prestige. Tenure does matter when it comes to being a captain on the 49ers. Williams is the one exception because you know, he's the best player on the team and has been the best at his position for a long time. Even without being named a captain, it doesn't mean Lance can still be viewed in a similar way. He can still have the leadership effect on his teammates and be the player that other's circle around. Doing so will prove that he can and should be a captain in the future.

"Obviously thats a goal of mine," said Lance. "but I don't think you can look at any six of those guys and be like 'yea that guy's a bozo, cause all of those guys have played football at a very, very high-level. Situations are different, I'm excited. I voted for every single one of those guys , so I think each and every one of them deserves it. But yea, it's definitely a goal of mine moving forward."

The 49ers are not a "handout" organization. Not even Jimmy Garoppolo was an automatic captain in his first year entering as the starter. Lance is going to have to earn the right to be a captain and that is something for his teammates to decide. This year will be his chance to prove it, so that his goal can be accomplished for the future.

And there should be ZERO doubt that he won't get it done.