Big J wrote:Pattersonca65 wrote:Did you see Lance's last game? Ugly.
lol, when Lance throws picks in training camp it’s “ugly”, but when Purdy does it it’s meaningless. Lance also had a 50 yard TD run. Something Purdy couldn’t do in his wildest dreams.
A couple thoughts on this.
First and foremost, Brock Purdy and Trey Lance are not even in the same discussion. Entering his third NFL season, Brock Purdy is in the conversation as a top-10 QB in this league. Entering his fourth season, Trey Lance is fighting to make his second roster as the #3 QB. Purdy has been a revelation since he stepped on the field and has answered the call repeatedly in regulation NFL games, including going toe-to-toe with Mahomes in the super bowl against the #1 defense in the league. He has started 27 NFL games and is 17-4 in the regular season and 4-2 in the playoffs. He's 4-1 in the playoffs if we don't consider a game in which he got hurt on the first drive. Trey Lance is 2-2 as a starter, and 1-2 if we don't count a game in which Jimmy G. did almost all the work after Trey went down. His only true win comes in a late-season win against the 4-13 Texans.
So yeah, INTs in the preseason mean a hell of a lot more for Lance than they do for Purdy. His football life is on the line. Purdy is returning as the unquestioned starter of a team that led the league in offensive productivity last year.
Second, it wasn't one interception. It was five interceptions and two fumbles. Against a defense that was playing guys who won't be on an NFL roster for most of the game, and who were openly calling out their protections pre-snap. And more significant than just the picks themselves is the fact that most were thrown because, four years in, Lance still can't read a defense. He appears to show some recognition pre-snap, but he can't read it at all once the players start moving. If his first read is there, he's okay (only okay because sometimes he doesn't recognize the right read, and while he will make awesome throws at times when he does see it, he's just as likely to flat out miss a wide open player). If his first read is not there, he's done unless he can do something with his legs. He has bad mechanics, bad pocket presence, bad vision, bad anticipation. Over and over again, he shows signs that he doesn't understand the meaning behind a play and thus doesn't know where to go with the ball. He's a bad NFL QB with tantalizing talent, and at this point, I don't expect that will ever change.
I was really pulling for Lance when the Niners drafted him, even though I had doubts. As said, he's supposed to be a tremendous human being, hard worker, and great teammate. But he ain't it, and it seems very unlikely that he ever will be. Meanwhile, the discussion around Purdy is whether he's only worth $50 million a year instead of $60 million.