4 NFL preseason rookie debuts all football fans should be excited for

QB Trey Lance

Opponent: Kansas City Chiefs, August 14th at 8:30 PM ET

Of this group of talented rookie quarterbacks, Trey Lance is probably the one I’m most interested in. On my final 2021 draft board, I had Fields ahead of Lance, but the 49ers obviously didn’t see it that way. In fact, they spent elite draft capital to move up to the third spot to make sure they were able to get Lance.

The former North Dakota State passer had an impressive statistical season in 2019, but opted out after just one game last year, and has a fraction of college pass attempts as the other first-round quarterbacks this year.

Fortunately, Lance landed in the perfect place for a quarterback to succeed. Kyle Shanahan is one of the most brilliant offensive minds in all of football, and he will use the wide-zone run game to help set his quarterback up for success.

Currently, ESPN has Lance listed as the number two quarterback for the 49ers behind Jimmy Garoppolo, but that could soon change. Lance will kick things off with a home game against the Kansas City Chiefs and his performance could dictate how quickly he inserts himself into the starting lineup this season.

It’s hard to read too much into preseason performances, but we might be able to get a good feel for how these quarterbacks are looking after this weekend. Tune in for the first week of NFL preseason games all weekend long.