SANTA CLARA — The Jacksonville Jaguars have literally dropped the ball with Trevor Lawrence — 18 dropped passes in nine games — but the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft is considerably farther down the road to becoming a pro quarterback than Trey Lance.
Lance, drafted two picks after Lawrence, came into the season at a significant deficit. He played only 19 games in college and they came against FCS level competition at North Dakota State. Lawrence played 40 games, 36 starts at Clemson, a perennial Division I power that attracts the top talent in the country.
Last week, Lawrence completed 16 of 35 passes for 162 yards in a 23-17 loss at Indianapolis Lance, who has thrown 48 passes the entire season, didn’t take a snap Monday night against the Rams.
This was all according to plan, for both teams, both quarterbacks,
The 49ers took Lance, and the plan was to let him get his feet wet while Jimmy Garoppolo remained the starter for an expected playoff run. Jacksonville, unencumbered by such lofty goals, could throw Lawrence off the high dive and wait until he learned to swim.
“Trevor knows how to play good football,” former 49ers quarterback Steve Young said on his weekly appearance on KNBR. “It’s just that I suspect with his lack of familiarity of what’s coming, every week is an incremental gain in what you know about the league and how to do it. That and the fact that you’re not getting much help. He got a ton of help at Clemson. Then you go to Jacksonville and all of a sudden you don’t get any help. No one thrives without help. Nobody.”
Lawrence has completed 58 percent of his passes (192 of 331) for 1,991 yards with eight touchdowns and nine interceptions. The Jaguars are 2-7 and Lawrence has played all but five snaps. Of those nine interceptions, seven came in the first three games of the season. 
Trey Lance (5) has remained in the background while Jimmy Garoppolo (10) starts for the 49ers at quarterback.But the Jags are averaging 16.6 points per game; only the Houston Texans are worse. The dropped passes are proving costly in real time and beyond.
“That slows down the development of a quarterback,” coach Urban Meyer said.
The game last week at Indianapolis might have represented another step in the right direction for Lawrence and the Jaguars. They closed a 17-point deficit to 23-17 and were across midfield with more than a minute to play. Lawrence, however, lost a fumble while being sacked and the Jaguars lost the game.
First-round QB snap counts:
1) Mac Jones, NE, 638
2) Trevor Lawrence, Jax, 588
3) Justin Fields, Chi, 470
4) Zach Wilson, NYJ, 327
5) Trey Lance, 49ers, 111— Jerry McDonald (@Jerrymcd) November 18, 2021
“I was super disappointed in how it ended,” Lawrence said. “I know in my career I’m going to have more opportunities like that and make the most of them.”
Lawrence is benefitting from the kind of experience that Lance won’t get in 2021 unless Garoppolo is injured or the 49ers fall out of playoff contention.
“He’s been thrown into a lot of situations and you can see that he along with his team are getting better and better,” Shanahan said of Lawrence and the Jaguars.
Lance, on the other hand, has played in just four games, making one start, a 17-10 loss to Arizona, when Garoppolo was injured. In that game, the 49ers put Lance on the move hoping he could create something with his running ability. He rushed 16 times for 89 yards and ended up with a minor knee injury that rendered him inactive for one game and compelled coach Kyle Shanana to sit him out for a second game.
In seven of nine games, Shanahan has prepared packages to use Lance in a way that plays to his skill set, although he’s seldom used any of them. Of the five quarterbacks taken in the first round, Lance’s 111 snaps are the fewest by a considerable margin.
The 49ers, given their long-range plan, are fine with that.
Yet it’s undeniable the education Lawrence is getting every week dwarfs what Lance is learning during meetings and practice. There are subtleties and nuance in terms of operating in the pocket — even when you’re as big as Lawrence (6-6, 213) and mobile.
“In the NFL you can only move a yard or so and you’re going to move into trouble,” Lawrence said. “You watch someone like Tom Brady, he can move six inches in the pocket each direction and buy himself a couple of extra seconds. That’s something he and Aaron Rodgers and guys that have been playing a long time do a good job of. And that’s through experience, playing, getting a feel for it and trusting it. I’ve gotten better, but there’s work to be done.”
Fred Warner, the 49ers’ middle linebacker, is eager to get a closer look.
“Obviously, his talent jumps off the tape,” Warner said. “You can see why he was the No. 1 pick. They say he’s 6-5, 6-6 but he moves like a smaller guy. He’s not easy to get down. He’s pretty quick but the arm talent is there. They want him to get in position to make decisive throws, get him going early.”
Lawrence will continue to evolve on the field at the highest level on game day.
Lance, on the other hand, waits his turn.
