Trey Lance

The Cowboys took a flyer on Lance just before Week 1 last year, trading a fourth-round pick to the 49ers for the 2021 third overall pick. Lance, though, not only never took a snap, he never made the active roster, suiting up only as the emergency third-sting QB every game. If his accuracy and anticipation have caught up to his physical gifts, perhaps Lance can beat out Cooper Rush to back up Dak Prescott this season. At 6-4, 226, Lance has both size and a strong arm, and his rushing ability adds to his potential. Lance, 24, is still young -- younger than rookie QBs Bo Nix and Michael Penix, n fact -- which is also why the Cowboys were willing to pay his $4.25 roster bonus for 2024.

Lance’s season ended 15 snaps into Week 2 last year when he snapped his right ankle. There’s not much to take from his 31 pass attempts -- Week 1 was played in a torrential downpour in Chicago and he threw just three times the following week before suffering the injury. Suffice to say, he’s still developing as a passer. At 6-4, 224, Lance is big and strong with the arm strength to match, while accuracy and anticipation remain works in progress. Perhaps that’s not surprising, considering the 23-year-old is younger than 10 of the 14 QBs taken in *this year’s* draft and has attempted a mere 420 passes since high school. If his passing game develops even modestly, he’ll have plenty of fantasy value thanks to his rushing ability. He seemingly has enough upside for the 49ers to be patient, but the team traded him in late August to Dallas after it became evident that Brock Purdy will be ready for Week 1 following offseason elbow surgery. Purdy so dazzled at the end of the last season that Lance had little shot of remaining the starter, as long as Purdy was healthy. So with Sam Darnold already the backup, the 49ers turned the three first-round picks and a third it gave to move up to draft Lance in 2021 into a ... fourth-round pick from the Cowboys. In Dallas, Lance will compete with Cooper Rush to back up Dak Prescott.

After a year as understudy, Lance has been named as the starter for his second season with the 49ers. Jimmy Garoppolo is still on the roster, but he's sticking around as a backup. Lance attempted passes in four games last year, including two starts, and struggled with accuracy at every level. On attempts of less than 10 yards, he completed just 60.5 percent (23 of 38). On attempts of more than 10 yards, he was 15 of 30. But he showed progress in his final game, a Week 17 start against Houston in which he went 16 of 23 for 249 yards, with a 78.6 percent on-target rate on 14 attempts longer than 10 yards. That at least gives him something to build on for this season, in addition to his strong arm. Lance's fantasy value is tied to his rushing anyway. In his two starts last season, he rushed 24 times for 120 yards (5.0 YPC), a 1,000-yard pace over 17 games. Even if he lost a third of those rushes as a full-time starter, he'd still be in the 700-yard range, which gives him considerable upside if his passing game develops even modestly. And with George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk and Elijah Mitchell on hand, Lance has plenty of weapons to carry him until that happens.

Lance was the answer to the biggest mystery of the draft — which QB the 49ers would select after trading three first-round picks and a third to move up to No. 3. Lance played only one game last season at North Dakota State, but in 2019 he led the Bison to the FCS title, throwing 28 TD passes and no interceptions. He also rushed for 1,100 yards (and that's with sack yardage deducted) and 14 TDs. That dual-threat ability combined with prototypical size (6-4, 228) and a cannon arm give Lance tremendous upside, both as a pro prospect and as a fantasy asset. Coach Kyle Shanahan said in May he views Jimmy Garoppolo as the starter. The rookie will get time to develop in a system to which he seems well suited — Lance is excellent off of play-action and throwing on the move, and is accurate both in the quick passing game and when challenging defenses downfield. Even if he isn't the Week 1 starter, Lance's time could come sooner than later, considering Garoppolo has missed 23 of 48 games the last three seasons. In that scenario, Lance's rushing ability would give him a decent floor while he works out the rough edges as an NFL passer.