Trey Lance (born May 9, 2000) is an American football quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at North Dakota State, where he won the Walter Payton Award and Jerry Rice Award as a redshirt freshman in 2019. He holds the NCAA record for most passes thrown in a season without an interception, doing so with 312 in 2019. Although he only played one game in the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Lance was selected third overall by the 49ers in the 2021 NFL Draft, who traded up to select him.

Lance was born in Marshall, Minnesota on May 9, 2000. He was trained mainly by his father Carlton, a former cornerback at Southwest Minnesota State who also played for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League and the London Monarchs of the World League of American Football. Lance “stood out” in a town with little racial diversity, with Carlton being black and his mother Angie being white.

Lance played running back in youth football and first played at quarterback in middle school. He later attended Marshall High School, where he was viewed as the best quarterback prospect in Minnesota. He initially wanted to play at the University of Minnesota and had been ready to commit there after attending a recruiting event in February 2017. However, he was not considered a quarterback prospect by them or other Power Five schools as they wanted him to play wide receiver or defensive back instead.^[3][1] The only schools that offered him the chance to stay at quarterback were from schools in the Group of Five conferences or the Football Championship Subdivision, with Lance eventually committing to North Dakota State in December 2017.

College career

Lance was redshirted for the 2018 season, but played in two games where he recorded two rushing touchdowns. He was named the starter in 2019 and led the Bison to the 2020 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game and was named its most valuable player in the 28–20 victory. He finished the season throwing 287 times for 28 touchdowns and no interceptions, an NCAA record for most passing attempts in a season without an interception. He also ran for 1,100 yards and 14 touchdowns. For his performance that season, he won the Walter Payton Award as the FCS’s most outstanding offensive player and the Jerry Rice Award as the FCS’s best freshman.

Lance was set to start again in 2020 before the season was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. His only game appearance that season was in a single exhibition game against Central Arkansas in October 2020, where he threw for two touchdowns and ran for an additional two while throwing the only interception of his college career. The Bison were scheduled to make up the rest of the season in early 2021, but Lance announced following the game that he would opt-out and begin to prepare for the 2021 NFL Draft.

Statistics

Professional career

Lance was selected third overall by the San Francisco 49ers in the 2021 NFL Draft, who traded their first-round picks in 2022 and 2023 to move up to the spot.

Personal life

Lance is a Christian and was a leader of his local Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter in high school.  His younger brother Bryce, a wide receiver, enrolled at North Dakota State to play for the Bison in 2021.