What Happened To Trey Lance?

Much was expected from the Dallas Cowboys' young quarterback Trey Lance when the San Francisco 49ers drafted him in the 2021 NFL Draft. After all, the 49ers had moved up the draft into third place in search of their next superstar in the making. The 2021 draft class was one for the ages as far as quarterbacks are concerned and the first three picks all went that way. With Jimmy Garoppolo, the starter for the 49ers, the franchise knew they needed to look to the future as they were looking to move on from him. As Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson went number 1 and 2, the 49ers pounced on the opportunity to sign Lance striking a trade with the Miami Dolphins.

Scouting Lance was not an easy task as he played his college football at North Dakota State University on the Bison football team. That team was miles ahead of the other colleges in the FCS division and therefore his skills were not tested to the fullest. Additionally, over his three years of college, he redshirted in 2018 after playing just two games, then played the full 2019 season, but again missed out in 2020 due to the pandemic. As a result, his college performances are based on a very limited number of games. Having said that, even with the limited games he had played, scouts could pick up how good his athletic ability is.

Trey Lance Injury

Trey Lance was set to be the starting quarterback for the 49ers from 2022 onwards. He started the first regular season game against the Chicago Bears. Despite the loss in his first game, he was still the go-to man for the job, but in only his second game of the season, he got injured against the Seattle Seahawks on September 18.

Running with the ball on what was a routine play, Lance was tackled by two Seahawks defenders and landed awkwardly with his foot under his body. The pressure resulted in an ankle injury which was later revealed to be a fractured ankle. According to experts, this type of injury takes a long time to recover from. As a result, Lance ended up missing the rest of the season. Before he could completely recover from the injury, he had to undergo two surgeries. Towards the end of April 2023, Lance was reported to be cleared to return to action meaning he was out for almost 6-7 months as expected for such an injury.

Trey Lance with the 49ers

In his rookie year, the 49ers decided to continue with Jimmy Garoppolo as their starter giving Lance the time to settle in the professional league and learn the high-level game as an able backup. This turned out to be a good decision as Lance would get the opportunity to enter six games starting two of them throughout the season.

Therefore, by the end of the 2021 campaign, Trey Lance had already gotten a feel for the next level by accounting for just over 600 passing yards and 5 passing touchdowns plus 168 yards on the ground. Upon the season ending in the NFC Championship game against the Los Angeles Rams, Lance declared that he was suffering from a right index finger injury which he picked up during the preseason.

Before the 2022 regular season got underway, Lance was named the starter and Garoppolo was signed as a backup for one year. Unfortunately, though, Lance was able to complete only one game as he suffered an ankle injury in the second game of the season forcing him to miss out on the entire year ahead.

Trey Lance with Dallas Cowboys

The lack of playing time along with injury and Brock Purdy's emergence saw Trey Lance get traded to the Dallas Cowboys before the start of the 2023 regular season. He served as a QB3 on the Cowboys for an entire 2023 season. In August 2024, he was fighting for the QB2 spot on the Cowboys with Cooper Rush.