Could 49ers quarterback Trey Lance take the NFL by storm this season and win MVP?
On Thursday, ESPN’s Bill Barnwell made the MVP case for several players ahead of the 2022 season, three of them being quarterbacks with outside chances in Jalen Hurts, Matt Ryan and Lance.
As Barnwell notes, while the award is typically won by a quarterback -- Adrian Peterson is the last non-QB to win after rushing for 2,097 yards for the Minnesota Vikings in 2012 -- it’s often hard to predict which signal-caller will rise above the rest.
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Entering his second season in the league, Lance is expected to be the 49ers’ starter under center after sitting behind Jimmy Garoppolo as a rookie.
Kansas City star quarterback Patrick Mahomes did the same thing his initial NFL season, starting just one game as Alex Smith led the Chiefs to a 10-6 record. But in his second year in the league, Mahomes was given the keys to the Kansas City offense and threw for 5,097 yards and 50 touchdowns en route to being named the 2018 NFL MVP.
Barnwell believes Lance could do the same.
"Enter Lance, who started two games as an injury replacement for Jimmy Garoppolo last season after being the No. 3 overall pick in the draft. Garoppolo's future remains uncertain, but Lance is expected to step in as the full-time starter in 2022 after spending a year in Kyle Shanahan's laboratory," Barnwell wrote. "He'll have George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk and the league's fourth-best rushing offense by DVOA to help the transition.
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"Mahomes threw for 896 yards and 13 touchdowns across his first three games in 2018 and never looked back. Lance is a different sort of player, but would it really be a surprise if he took the league by storm?"
Per our partners at PointsBet, Lance has +5,000 odds to win the MVP award, tied for 14th in the league along with running backs Derrick Henry and Jonathan Taylor and quarterbacks Deshaun Watson and Kirk Cousins.
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That means a $100 bet on Lance would cash $5,000 if he won.
The odds aren’t quite in Lance’s favor, but as Barnwell writes, why not?
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