CFZ 4th Round Pick of Cowboys since 2000

[JD_KaPow]

Off the top of my head Geno Smith, Alex Smith, Rich Gannon, Drew Brees, and Sam Darnold all come to mind.

Obviously not Darnold. He actually started for his first team, and he's relegated to a backup role now.
And obviously not Brees. He started in SD starting in his second season. He also had injury issues...but he came back from them to beat out Philip Rivers, start the entire 2004 season and win Comeback Player of the Year. Kind of the opposite of what Lance has done.
Gannon was with MIN for six seasons, the last three as the starter, before moving on.
Geno started two full years with the Jets and they kept him two more years before he moved on.
And again, Alex Smith started for SF for years.

Plunkett has also been mentioned, but he started for NE for his first 4+ seasons. He was the runner-up for Rookie of the Year.

You all are listing guys who had mediocre-to-good first acts and then better second acts (plus Sam Darnold for some reason). But Lance got dumped without ever having that first act.

Is there any QB who was drafted high, expected to take over as the starter for a team, never do so, and then become highly successful somewhere else? I can't think of one. The closest might be Garoppolo, but he wasn't drafted high and the only reason he wasn't a starter in NE was Brady. And of course he brought back a 2nd-round pick in trade.

 

[JD_KaPow]

I think the issue is unique in that it was a completely wrong circumstance for Lance to be in with the 49ers.

Due to Lance’s limited college experience, against low level college competition, he really need to go to a team that HAD a QB in place and where he could just be stashed as a developmental guy for a few years. Ala GB with Jordan Love and Rodgers back in the day, etc.

The 49ers are ready to WIN NOW. That’s why Purdy makes sense and Barkley behind him as they have far more experience than Lance does. Purdy started all 4 years in college.

A QB as raw as Lance needs to be where he can literally just sit a couple more years on a roster, working on developing.

Will it work now if given that chance? Who knows. But worth a try.

You could be right. But when I hear, "this guy's different from all those others," I'm always skeptical, because even when you can point to this reason and that reason, they almost never turn out to be different in the end.