Perhaps the biggest draft blunder committed by the San Francisco 49ers in the past 25 years was the selection of North Dakota State quarterback Trey Lance in 2021. The 49ers spent a pretty penny to move up to No. 3 and ended up only seeing four starts in eight games from Lance.
Now, some of that was due to injury, Lance’s rookie development and the emergence of Brock Purdy, but the point still stands that this was a wasted pick — all things considered. Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox went through all 32 teams’ worst draft picks since 2000 to figure out what each team should have done instead, knowing hindsight is 20/20.
For the 49ers, it was a pretty simple decision: Take linebacker Micah Parsons at No. 3 instead of Lance.
The San Francisco 49ers’ 2021 selection of Trey Lance was so bad that if the team hadn’t stumbled into Brock Purdy a year later, general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan might have both gotten fired.
The entire process of drafting Lance was a risky gamble. San Francisco traded the 12th overall pick in the draft along with first- and third-round picks in 2022 and a 2023 first-round pick to move up to No. 3 overall. The 49ers made the move while looking for a quarterback but without knowing which ones would still be on the board at No. 3.
Shanahan and Lynch settled on Lance, a one-year starter at North Dakota State, who possessed elite athletic upside but limited experience against quality competition. The gamble did not pay off.
Lance failed to unseat Jimmy Garoppolo as a rookie, and he suffered a season-ending ankle fracture after two starts in 2022. Purdy cemented himself as the starter by the end of Lance’s sophomore year, and Lance was traded to Dallas for a fourth-round pick in 2023.
San Francisco could have saved its draft capital, stayed at No. 12, and grabbed All-Pro pass-rusher Micah Parsons instead. While the 49ers had a top-tier edge rusher in 2019 first-round pick Nick Bosa, they’ve lacked a high-end complement to him ever since he was drafted.
Now, this draft decision would still have been worth it even if the 49ers still traded up to No. 3 instead of staying at No. 12. Parsons won Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2021, is a five-time Pro Bowler and three-time first-team All-Pro with 65 career sacks in just five seasons. Even with Trevor Lawrence and Ja’Marr Chase, there’s a case to be made that Parsons was the best pick of the 2021 class.
Fortunately for San Francisco, they made up for the Lance blunder with Purdy turning into a legitimate star quarterback despite being taken with the literal last pick of the draft. But, if the 49ers could go back in time, they’d likely have loved to have taken Parsons over Lance at either No. 3 or No. 12.
This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: Who should the 49ers have drafted instead of Trey Lance in 2021?
Reporting by Oliver G., Niners Wire / Niners Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
