My early prediction for top sophomore Fantasy QB in 22'
With the GOAT Tom Brady and Big Ben Roethlisberger retiring the NFL now more than ever is being taken over by young QB's. A changing of the guard if you will. Last year we NFL fans saw 5 quarterbacks drafted in the first 15 picks of day 1 - Trevor Lawrence (1st OVR), Zach Wilson (2nd OVR), Trey Lance (3rd OVR), Justin Fields (11th OVR) and Mac Jones (15th OVR). All of these quarterbacks are presumably the face of their respective franchises. Each of these 5 QB's had their fair share of struggles throughout the season and some saw more playing time others. However each QB also showed flashes that could be early signs of their potential domination of the NFL for years to come. I expect that all 5 of them will take a big step forward in their sophomore seasons. Jones showed great poise under the tutelage of the great Bill Belichick and Lawrence should have a more stable foundation to build on a solid rookie season with new coach Doug Pederson, but which of the 5 QBs drafted in the 21' will have the best fantasy season in 22'?
Trey Lance, San Francisco 49ers
I know many of you readers will look at this and roll their eyes. I get it, Lance played about 80% less snaps than every other QB drafted in the 1st round of the 21' NFL draft and many would argue that he "wasn't able to beat out" Jimmy Garoppolo to take over as the 49ers starter as a rookie. The way I see it though, is that unless Garoppolo suffered severe injury or played extremely awful, Kyle Shanahan planned to have Lance remain an understudy to Garoppolo in his very complex offense. So what factors lead me to believe Lance will have the best fantasy season of these 5 sophomore QB's?
Kyle Shanahan - In Kyle Shanahan's offense Lance should flourish in both the run and pass game. Shanahan's play calling and offensive genius should put Lance in great position to make big plays with his arm and his legs.
Lance's Athleticism - Though it was just 2 starts a few series, Lance's athleticism was on display plenty. He's clearly more athletic than Lawrence, Wilson and Jones. In fact in his limited playing time he had nearly as many rushing yards as each of them and in his first full season it wouldn't surprising me to see him rush for over 600 yards.
Supporting Cast - Deebo Samuel, George Kittle, and the 49ers defense are unquestionable studs! Add in key role players like Elijah Mitchell, Brandon Aiyuk and Kyle Juszczyk and that makes up for one stellar supporting cast for the young Lance. It's easily the best supporting cast of any of the other QBs taken in the 1st round of the 21' NFL draft and gives Lance plenty of proven and reliable weapons.
Stats Prediction
There's not much tape to go off of here so I could be wrong but I predict better than average numbers from Lance. Considering what he's put on tape so far, everything listed above and the expectation of a full offseason and training camp with the starters here's my stats prediction.
Passing Yards - Over 4,000
Passing TDs - Over 32
Rushing Yards - Over 900
Rushing TDs - Over 8
Now I'm not claiming here that Lance is as good as Patrick Mahomes (yet) but before you start blowing up my DM's about how these are crazy numbers, consider this, in a very similar situation involving a great coach, supporting cast and raw talent Mahomes saw his sophomore season produce over 5,000 passing yards and over 50 passing TDs on his way to a Super Bowl LIV victory over presumably now Lance's 49ers.
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