Dilfer: Lance injury could be 'career wrecker' if Jimmy G wins originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
Trey Lance’s broken ankle will keep him out for the remainder of the 2022 NFL season.
But in the eyes of former NFL quarterback Trent Dilfer, Sunday’s misfortune might set Lance back even further in his career, and for reasons besides an injured ankle.
“I’m bummed for Trey. I think this could be a career wrecker, to be honest with you,” Dilfer said Tuesday on the “Ryen Russillo Podcast.” “This will be now his third year without playing significant snaps. He had limited passes as a college player.”
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Lance’s inexperience is well documented. He only played one full season at North Dakota State and completed 66.9 percent of his pass attempts that year for 2,786 yards, 28 touchdowns and no interceptions. Other than that 2019 campaign that put him on the map, Lance has started seven other football games -- three in college and four since joining the 49ers last season.
“Less than 1,500 attempts as a college player, it very rarely works out in your favor in the NFL,” Dilfer said. “I was willing to take that chance with Trey because I figured his ability to run the ball would be a balancing act to give him a longer leash in the NFL, to play more snaps before he became a refined passer. Now you’re looking at less than 1,500 attempts in college football and three years without playing significant snaps.”
Dilfer, who finished his 13-year NFL career by playing seven games for the 49ers in 2007, has high expectations for coach Kyle Shanahan’s team the rest of the season with veteran Jimmy Garoppolo leading the huddle once again.
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Disadvantage: Lance.
“I think Jimmy G will be successful,” Dilfer said. “I do think the 49ers will be successful. Therefore, what do [the 49ers] do at the end of this year?”
Garoppolo took a massive pay cut to stay with the 49ers for the final season of his five-year deal he inked before the 2018 campaign. He’ll become an unrestricted free agent in March.
Will the 49ers give Garoppolo another chance and re-sign him or hand the franchise back to the unproven Lance? That question will be looming around the locker room into the offseason, no matter how many games San Francisco wins.
“I hope not,” Dilfer said. “I love the kid. But this could be catastrophic for Trey Lance.”
