Trey Lance was the only one of five quarterbacks selected in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft to not be named the full-time starter by the end of their rookie season.
Mac Jones, Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson had the job out of training camp, and the Chicago Beats gave Justin Fields the reigns a few weeks into the regular season.
Lance, meanwhile, saw two spot starts in place of an injured Jimmy Garoppolo but spent most of his inaugural NFL season developing behind the scenes.
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SIGN UP HERE 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch have spoken glowingly about the work Lance put in and the progress he made during Year 1, as did Lance's teammates. Still, it might be difficult to evaluate a rookie season in which Sunday action was scarce.
To Shanahan, one thing in particular about Lance's first season stood out -- the finish.
"Your first year, you don't just gradually get better," Shanahan said Tuesday at the Annual NFL Meeting. "You go up and down, you hit some walls in the year, and you learn how to fight through them. I thought Trey, just going through his first NFL season, especially after only having one college season and missing that whole last year because of COVID, you go through that whole draft process, there's so much football, and you can see it on the rookies. They get to November and they just can't believe the season is still going.
"But then you watch them battle through it, and the way Trey finished in December, being able to come in and get us a huge win versus Houston. If we wouldn't have got that, we wouldn't have been able to get in the playoffs. And I think he really finished strong. It was really good for him to see the ebb and flow of an NFL season and how you just have to keep grinding and keep battling."
Lance finished the season throwing for 603 yards, five touchdown passes and two interceptions while completing 57.7 percent of his throws.
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The 49ers entered the offseason planning to trade Jimmy Garoppolo and turn the offense over to Lance. While Garoppolo's shoulder surgery has slowed trade talks to a halt, it's clear Shanahan believes Lance can be the guy for the 2022 49ers.
“That’s why we looked into trading Jimmy because we obviously believe Trey can be the starter and we’re ready to do that," Shanahan said Tuesday.
"We have all guys that are capable of starting. Jimmy’s done a great job for us. We brought Trey here to be that eventually. I think that’ll be sooner than later."
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By all accounts, Lance impressed during his first year in Santa Clara, proving to be exactly the quarterback the 49ers believed they were getting when they selected him with the No. 3 overall pick last April.
The 21-year-old spent Year 1 sitting, learning and developing behind Garoppolo. He showed flashes in his limited on-field snaps and has proven he is secure enough to handle the QB situation that still is sorting itself out in Santa Clara.
While Garoppolo remains on the roster, Shanahan isn't concerned Lance will be impacted negatively by how the 49ers' offseason has played out.
“You’ve got to make sure that you’re not hindering his development,” Shanahan said. “Trey’s working his tail off. He knows how I feel about him. He knows what our expectations are for him. And I think he’s got a lot of respect for Jimmy. But the situation is clear. We were trying to make a move to add some draft pick, and we were pretty close to it. And then Jimmy ended up getting the surgery, which changes things.
“I think Trey will understand all that. I haven’t had to talk to him about it. But I think it makes sense for all these guys. Trey’s not an insecure guy. I think the situation makes sense. There’s nothing sneaky going on about it. And he’s confident.”
Lance has the utmost belief in himself and his abilities, and so do the 49ers after how he finished his first season in red and gold.