Colin Cowherd doubts 49ers QB Trey Lance will be 'a superstar'

Fox Sports personality Colin Cowherd generated headlines related to the San Francisco 49ers earlier this month when he and NFL insider Mike Silver touched upon supposed "arm fatigue" and "arm fitness" concerns regarding quarterback Trey Lance that surfaced during the club's spring workouts. 

Lance is on track to be San Francisco's QB1 at the start of training camp as his employer still looks to trade veteran Jimmy Garoppolo, and Cowherd offered praise for the 22-year-old while explaining why the signal-caller will find success playing under head coach Kyle Shanahan. 

"Size, smarts, mobility, athleticism—he's got a lot of traits," Cowherd said of Lance during a segment, per David Bonilla of 49ers WebZone. "He checks a lot of boxes. The one he doesn't—accurate thrower of the football. It's not pretty. He's completing like 57% of his throws. Can he get to 62-and-a-half? Then you can make it.

"My guess on Trey Lance: he'll be the third-best quarterback in his division this year. It will go Kyler Murray, Matt Stafford—or Matt Stafford, Kyler Murray, and Trey Lance. That's fine in a quarterback's first year of playing. You don't want that to be a trait for seven years. Kyler Murray's not going anywhere, and Matt Stafford [isn't]. And [the dilemma would still exist] if they drafted Mac Jones. Mac Jones would be the third-best quarterback in their division. So when I hear, 'Kyle Shanahan wanted Mac Jones,' well, Mac Jones, Justin Fields, Trey Lance would all be the third-best quarterback in that division."

Lance completed 57.7% of his throws as a rookie but also only attempted 71 regular-season passes and apparently did so with an injured index finger. Even still, Cowherd doesn't see Lance becoming one of the best overall players at the sport's most important position anytime soon. 

"I don't think he'll be a superstar," Cowherd continued about Lance. "I think he will be the third-best quarterback in the division for the foreseeable future, and that is not perfect."

Barring a new injury, Lance should have plenty of opportunities to prove all doubters wrong beginning this fall.