What we saw and learned from Trey Lance’s first practice with the 49ers

The initial elation of getting drafted into the NFL has worn off for Trey Lance just over two weeks since the 49ers made the North Dakota State quarterback the No. 3 pick.

“I think I’ve kind of gotten past the point where it’s surreal. It’s work now,” Lance said Friday, roughly 90 minutes before practicing for the first time during rookie minicamp. “It was probably cooler the day after the draft and draft day and everything like that. Right now it’s my job, so I’m excited to get to work.”

Indeed, Friday in Santa Clara offered the first glimpse of Lance in a black 49ers practice jersey getting to work. It was different than a normal rookie minicamp that usually has roughly 40 players. There were only 23 players on hand and no defensive linemen, meaning the three portions of team periods were limited to 7-on-7 drills, with no one in the trenches. Lance was unbothered by pass rushers after taking the snap and could deliberately make his reads.

Lance appeared to hit the ground running. Or at least jogging. He completed approximately 20 of 24 throws in team drills, with a vast majority of them short, underneath or check-downs. Not every throw was accurate, but he appeared to be getting the ball to the right places while tasked with relaying the play calls from coach Kyle Shanahan to his teammates in the huddle.

“I’ve been looking forward to learning a new playbook, and obviously it’s an NFL playbook, so it’s going to be a lot,” Lance said before practice. “But for me, I’ve been waiting to learn a new playbook for the last, seven eight months. So it was a ton of fun to finally be able to get into it.”

The 49ers traded their No. 12 pick and two future first-rounders to move up nine spots for Lance. Shanahan made the significant investment because of Lance’s physical skills (he very much looks the part on the practice field, and the ball jumps out of his hand when he wants to) paired with his acuity.

Lance practices, 49ers rookies debut

Lance seems to be picking up the abridged version of the offense quickly. There was only one instance, that I saw, in which Lance and his teammates had to re-huddle after getting the call from Shanahan over the radio speaker in Lance’s helmet. He took snaps from shotgun and under center throughout the session.

Lance’s day in team drills began with a short throw to third-round pick Trey Sermon, which may have been dropped. It was difficult to see as the team drills were on the far side of the field, some 70 yards away from reporters. Lance completed his next 10 throws before missing receiver Jauan Jennings — participating in minicamp after not playing in 2020 due to a hamstring injury — with an off-target pass.

Perhaps Lance’s best throw was a 15-yard toss over the middle in traffic to veteran receiver Marqise Lee, a five-year pro formally of the Jaguars, who was one of five players trying out. Lee was one of Lance’s most-targeted players along with fullback Josh Hokit, tight end Alex Ellis (another tryout player from Tennessee).

One of Lance’s blemishes came during one-on-one drills when he was intercepted by fifth-round pick Deommodore Lenoir while trying to connect with undrafted receiver Austin Watkins, who also dropped a pass during team drills.

Lenoir, the defensive back from Oregon, played mostly left outside cornerback while third-round choice Ambry Thomas (Michigan) worked on the opposite side along with tryout player Adonis Alexander, who stood out among the defensive back group with his 6-foot-3, 205-pound frame.

Another fifth-round pick, Talanoa Hufanga, also had an interception during one-on-one drills in coverage, though he picked off a coach throwing passes. Hufanga worked at safety though a switch to linebacker could be coming down the road. Hufanga looks bigger than his listed weight of 200 pounds. Hufanga also dropped a would-be interception in the same drill.

Sixth-round pick Elijah Mitchell, the running back from Louisiana, also seems to be a quick study. He caught a handful of passes out of the backfield and used his speed to burn a linebacker on a long wheel route during one-on-one drills. Mitchell and Sermon are the only running backs partaking in minicamp.

Tryout players, 49ers linemen

The list of tryout players: KiAnte Hardin (cornerback, Pittsburgh State), Alexander, Blake Countess (safety, Auburn), Ellis and Lee, who might be the most interesting given the team’s lack of experience at receiver. Lee appeared in 59 games and made 30 starts with Jacksonville with 174 catches, 2,184 yards and eight touchdowns. He didn’t appear in a game last season.

It was a mostly uneventful day for the four offensive linemen participating. With no defensive lineman on the field, they were limited to individual drills with new position coach Chris Foerster. The two draftees, Aaron Banks (Round 2, Notre Dame) and Jaylon Moore (Round 5, Western Michigan) were working on fundamentals and doing bag work with Corbin Kaufusi and Alfredo Gutierrez, a Mexican player added to the team through the International Player Pathway program. Gutierrez is 6-foot-9 and 332 pounds.

The remaining two practices Saturday and Sunday during minicamp will be closed to reporters. The next round of offseason team activities (OTAs) will be May 24 through 25, May 27, June 1 through 2, June 4, June 7 through 8 and June 10. The mandatory full-team OTAs are slated for June 15 through 17, though it’s unclear how many players will participate. The NFLPA issued a statement last month indicating a number of 49ers players will be boycotting the offseason program, as have many players throughout the league.