Trey Lance Faces More Pressure in 2022 Than if he Started in 2021

The pressure Trey Lance faces entering 2022 is significantly greater than any pressure he would have faced had he started his whole rookie season.

Pressure makes diamonds.

Or in the case of an NFL rookie quarterback, pressure can break them.

That is surely to be factored into why the 49ers elected to keep Trey Lance on the bench in favor of Jimmy Garoppolo. Having all that pressure to deliver in a rookie season can be detrimental to a young mind.

However, all the 49ers did was put off that pressure until next season. And like a debt that someone is carrying, interest has kicked in.

Lance will face more pressure in 2022 than if he started in 2021 as a rookie.

It is for the exact reasons the 49ers wanted him to sit in the first place. They wanted Lance to be alloted time to grow accustomed to life as an NFL player. Not every rookie who gets drafted adjusts well right off the bat. Some don’t end up getting there until multiple years in the league. It’s why rookies who hit the ground running and turn into impact players are slim.

Not to mention that the 49ers wanted Lance to get a year under his belt of being embedded into Kyle Shanahan’s system. Shanahan’s scheme is complex and takes an abundance of mental reps to get it down — mentally gifted or not. Now that Lance knows how NFL life is, how Shanahan’s system runs, and how a real live game is in his two starts, the bar is higher than before.

The “rookie hiccups” will still be there in his sophomore season, but the 49ers are expecting those to be reduced. This will be the most intriguing to see Lance experience any sort of hiccup or “rookie wall” because if it lingers for a good portion of the season, circling back to whether or not the 49ers made the right decision in 2021 to not start Lance will be brought up.

Speaking of 2021, the 49ers advancing to the NFC championship game fuels the pressure on Lance as well. With the 49ers so close to a Super Bowl berth, they know they are right there in the mix. So now the demand for Lance “to be ready” and immediately produce will be heightened significantly than if he started in 2021.

While the 49ers will see it as a season of honing Lance more and driving up Jimmy Garoppolo’s trade value (questionable), 2021 can easily be seen as the year that grows and strengthens the pressure Lance will feel in 2022.

As cautious and careful of a move it was lauded for with keeping Lance on the sideline, it could also be the reason his development becomes stunted or slow to progress. I’m not saying it will happen. Lance could very well be headstrong and not fall into that pit of pressure. But it would be foolish to not see it as a fair possibility as well.

And if Lance does fall into that, 2021 will be one giant question mark.