The Most Overlooked Aspect of Trey Lance's Game

When people talk about how Trey Lance will improve the 49ers offense, they typically focus on his arm strength and foot speed.

Those traits certainly are impressive, and they're two of the starkest differences between Lance and the 49ers incumbent starting quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo, who doesn't run or throw deep much.

But there's something else about Lance that will make the 49ers offense better and more efficient -- his mind.

From all reports, Lance is a football genius. He retains information rapidly -- he already has learned the 49ers play book -- and he makes lots of checks and adjustments at the line of scrimmage before the snap to make sure the offense runs the best play given what he sees from the defense. Lance had the freedom to do this at North Dakota State.

When Lance becomes the 49ers starting quarterback, Kyle Shanahan will be able to call two or three plays, and Lance will be able to pick the right one at of the line of scrimmage once he sees what the defense intends to do. Jim Harbaugh used to do this with Alex Smith, and Smith was elite at controlling the offense at the line of scrimmage. Almost as good as Peyton Manning in that regard.

Jimmy Garoppolo is no Smith or Manning before the snap. Garoppolo often doesn't know what he sees. And when Shanahan gives him two plays, Garoppolo often picks the wrong one. He routinely checked out of runs and into passes in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl. Go back and watch.

Lance will give the 49ers a smarter signal caller. And on top of that, he could rush for 1,000 yards and throw for 4,000 yards in the same season, too.

The 49ers can't make him the starter soon enough.