Trey Lance’s long-term future could be set to look very bleak following the San Francisco 49ers quarterback’s injury yesterday, ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky has claimed. 

The 2022 season was meant to usher in the start of the Trey Lance era with the San Francisco 49ers after the team decided to move on from quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. Garoppolo had amassed a record of 33-16 with the team across the regular and postseason since joining them from the New England Patriots in the 2017 season, taking them to an NFC Championship twice as well as a trip to the Super Bowl.

Lance on the other hand was only drafted by the team last season after they traded up to pick him with the #3 selection, and struggled as a rookie last year when he was given some brief action during the season as he only completed 57.7% of his passes.

However the decision was made and the team handed the ball to Lance to lead the team, and things got off to a terrible start last week against the Chicago Bears as Lance didn’t throw a single touchdown and completed less than 50% of his passes, leading some to believe that naming him the starter was a mistake.

However things took a rather unfortunate turn for the worst as they took on the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.

Trey Lance gets more bad luck

In the opening quarter of their game at Levi’s Stadium, Lance suffered an injury whilst trying to run the ball up the middle.

Video: Trey Lance suffers injury:

49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan confirmed after the game that Lance will undergo season-ending surgery to the ankle that he injured on the play:

But whilst this is devastating for this season, ESPN analyst and former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky claims the problems could end up costing him further down the line.

Lance’s past comes back to haunt him

Speaking on ESPN’s Get Up, Orlovsky pointed out that after not having a full season in 2020 (where as a result of the pandemic, he could only play one game) and being made to sit in 2021, missing out on a third full year of football could be terrible for his development:

Video: Dan Orlovsky worried for Trey Lance after his injury:

Now there have been times where not playing for three years has worked out, after all Aaron Rodgers had to sit behind Brett Favre for three years in Green Bay, and Garoppolo had to do the same behind Tom Brady with the Patriots.

But Rodgers and Garoppolo would still have been in practice for a large portion of that and would have got reps such as the preseason or in ‘garbage time’ at the end of games, but for Lance he’s going to have to sit it out completely just like in 2020. 

You just hope that he’s able to come back strong, but after what Orlovsky said, you do kind of worry for what he’s going to look like when he does come back.