The 49ers traded the sun and the sky, the moon and the stars, heaven and earth, all for one man…Trey Lance, a quarterback drafted in 2021. Mortgaging their future for Lance seemed risky at the time, but with injury combined with poor play, it seems like the 49ners may have made a huge mistake.

Trey Lance went down with a season-ending ankle injury last Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks. He needed surgery on it which the 49ners said went well, although we don’t know the effect this injury will have on his mobility and athleticism. While playing in limited games (4), Lance hasn’t played particularly well, only notching a 54.9% completion percentage, 797 yards passing, 5 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions. Now it’s not particularly fair to judge him off such a small amount of games, especially because of how young and inexperienced he is, but from what we heard from Kyle Shanahan, (49ers’ head coach) it’s fair to say that we and the Niners expected more.

Lance’s injury might also cause more issues than just him not playing. One of the main things that made Trey Lance a huge prospect was his athleticism and ability to escape the pocket. The problem arises when you keep getting injured because it won’t ever heal all the way or be as strong as it was before, especially when the injuries involve surgery. It’s only one injury, so it would be an overreaction to say that he won’t recover and be the same if not better next season, but if Trey Lance can’t prevent future injuries and improve his play, the 49ners might be in trouble.