Trey Lance was selected third overall in the 2021 NFL entry draft by the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers traded three first-round picks as well as a third-round pick in order to select Trey Lance.
Trey Lance was valued highly due to his physical traits, though many fans do not know his 40 time.
Trey Lance does not have an official 40 time though one of Lance’s personal trainers said he regularly clocks him at a 4.5 40-yard dash.
The reason there is not an official 40 time for Trey Lance is that the Covid-19 pandemic forced the NFL to cancel the 2021 NFL combine.
The combine brings in all the best prospects of the draft and allows them to participate in drills for NFL teams.
40 times are only considered official when they are completed at the NFL combine. This is because the combine uses laser timing in order to more accurately determine the results of the drill.
If players do not run at the combine they will after complete the 40-yard dash at their pro day.
A pro day is similar to the combine but instead features prospects from a single college running drills on their own campus.
When timing the 40-yard dash at pro days scouts will use hand timers in order to time the drill. This leads to obvious errors as human reaction time causes the timers to miss time both at the start and the end of the drill.
Since one-tenth of a second is a huge swing in terms 40 times this small human error can greatly change a player’s evaluation. For this reason, 40 times are only considered official when using laser timing.
Why Didn’t Trey Lance Run At His Pro Day?
The Covid-19 pandemic meant that Trey Lance couldn’t run at the NFL combine but why didn’t Lance run at his pro day?
Lance, like many other prospects in recent years, decided to skip certain drills in order to maintain his draft stock.
Trey Lance is a dual-threat quarterback and by looking at his college tape you will find there are plenty of examples of what Trey Lance’s in-game speed is like.
By running the drill itself Lance would potentially have a poor performance and ultimately cost his draft stock.
Though Lance is undoubtedly fast there is a lot of technique that goes into running the 40-yard dash.
Players will practice this drill over and over throughout the season in order to maximize their times. In this drill the players must start in a three-point stance, this is easy for sprinters but for football players, this stance is not normal for them.
Only tight ends and offensive linemen primarily line up in a three-point stance. For most quarterbacks sprinting from this position is something they have never done.
Running in-game is a better test of a quarterback’s speed which is why Lance preferred to use this method instead.
Additionally, some college programs fit their players with GPS trackers that allow them to track players’ top speed throughout a game.
This GPS data can be shared with scouts and NFL teams to give them insight into how quickly they move on the field.
This gives the scouts a fair idea of how quick Lance is without the risk of performing poorly in the drill.
That’s all on Trey Lance’s 40 time to check out the speed of some other quarterbacks see Zack Wilson’s 40 time or Russel Wilson’s 40 time from his combine.
