Trey Lance may have been taken with the No. 3 overall pick, but the rookie has not seen much playing time with the San Francisco 49ers.
The former North Dakota State product has played behind quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, and has been somewhat of a gadget player in the 49ers’ offense. The only start of Lance’s career was in Week 5 as San Francisco lost 17-10 to the Arizona Cardinals. The rookie went 15-of-29 for 192 yards and an interception.
Houston Texans cornerback Tavierre Thomas isn’t overlooking Lance, who will be making his second career start Sunday at Levi’s Stadium in Week 17.
“He’s top three picks in the NFL draft so we know what he can do,” said Thomas, the reigning AFC Defensive Player of the Week. “He probably hasn’t played a lot because he is behind a veteran, but when you are that top guy in the draft, we know that you are good. Just got to go out there and just try to pick up a little bit of keys that we can play off of and just go from there. Just go out and play, read our keys and play hard.”
According to cornerback Desmond King, the Texans will have to watch copious amounts of film to get a feel for Lance.
“We know Jimmy is going to be down so we have to dig deep into the film study and see what Trey gives us for the game,” said King.
The 49ers have plenty to play for as they are 8-7 and currently in the No. 6 seed in the NFC playoffs. The Texans are 4-11 but riding a two-game winning streak, including a victory over the Los Angeles Chargers, who are also in a competitive wild-card situation in the AFC. Houston has a 2-2 record this season against quarterbacks in the 2021 NFL draft class.