Lance needs surgery, "likely" done for the season

ESPN's Adam Schefter reports 49ers QB Trey Lance suffered a "significant" right ankle injury in the Week 2 win over the Seahawks. Lance is expected to need surgery that will "likely" end his season. You can hang on to him on fantasy rosters until we get official confirmation that Lance's season is over, which figures to come tomorrow. San Francisco will turn back to QB Jimmy Garoppolo, which will mean a significant shift in the offense. The 49ers' pass rate will climb, and there will be more carries to go around since Garoppolo won't be taking many.

Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy gave his early impression of new QB Trey Lance. “Very hard working. We have a quarterback meeting room area. He’s pretty much kind of taken it over,” McCarthy said via reporter Michael Gehlken. “The grease boards look like ‘A Beautiful Mind.’ We just need to work on the extra things, particularly in the area of footwork.” Lance, who projects as the QB3 behind Cooper Rush, will have plenty of time to refine his game.

The Cowboys are acquiring QB Trey Lance from the 49ers for a fourth-round pick, according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. We've expected a trade at least since San Francisco officially named Lance the caddy to fellow draft bust Sam Darnold. This is a somewhat surprising destination, though, given that QB Dak Prescott's entrenched and signed through 2024. That no team with more of a QB need was apparently willing to give more suggests the league doesn't believe in Lance's long-term upside either. We'll see how a new stop treats him. But any hope of a fantasy payoff for patient dynasty managers is fading.

ESPN's Adam Schefter believes Sam Darnold will head to training camp as the favorite for the 49ers' No. 2 QB job. With a healthy QB Brock Purdy the favorite to start, that'd leave QB Trey Lance third on the depth chart. Schefter adds that he doesn't expect Lance to be traded because "there was never a lot of interest." The massive fall continues for Lance, who was the third overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft. He's certainly worth keeping stashed on dynasty rosters, but it's getting tougher to spend a pick on Lance at any point of best-ball drafts.

49ers QB Trey Lance has made a "substantial jump" this offseason, according to private QBs coach Jeff Christensen. Lance recently worked with Christensen alongside Patrick Mahomes. “I said, ‘Watch this. Watch what he does here,’” Christensen said. “It was something I was telling him to do that he wasn’t quite doing. And then he saw Patrick apply it perfectly. And I think that visual buy-in, that mental buy-in, helped him past that mental hump. And to his credit he just kept getting better." Lance has adjusted his throwing motion and made improvements in accuracy, spin rate, and delivery time, according to Christensen. We'll get a glimpse at the new-look Lance when the 49ers open OTAs this week.

"Several teams" have called the 49ers to check on the availability of QB Trey Lance, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Rapoport adds that San Francisco is not actively shopping Lance and that "no trade is imminent." But it certainly makes sense that there's interest from other teams after the 49ers publicly called QB Brock Purdy the favorite to start in 2023. We continue to believe that there's a good chance that Lance is a Week 1 starter this season -- whether it's for the 49ers or another team.