Raheem Mostert defends Lance amid harsh criticism of 49ers QB

Raheem Mostert defends Lance amid harsh criticism of 49ers QB originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Raheem Mostert has had enough of the Trey Lance disrespect.

The ex-49ers running back came to Lance's defense in the comments of an Instagram post where former NFL executive Michael Lombardi was quoted as being very critical of the young quarterback.

"Aye man y'all need to stop disrespecting him like this! This is crossing the damn line! Everyone has something to say but can't back their own bs up!" Mostert wrote on the Sports Illustrated post.

Lance received a lot of national criticism following his showing in the 49ers' preseason opener loss to the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday. But no critique has received as much attention as Lombardi's.

"As you go down this road with Lance, it just becomes harder and harder and harder," Lombardi said on "The GM Shuffle" podcast. "And you could show all the clips of him moving and all that stuff. At the end of the day, when his momma lifted him from the crib, he just didn't have that quarterback instinct."

Another analyst, ESPN's Marcus Spears, also was harsh in his assessment of Lance.

"Look, they got a terrible situation on their hands with this Trey Lance," Spears said during ESPN's "First Take" on Monday. "This may go down as one of the worst trades in the draft in the history of the NFL. The fortunate part is Kyle Shanahan has done such a phenomenal job of getting this team ready to play and being so creative offensively that it hasn't shown in the win-loss column.

"But you lost a lot by going up [to] get Trey Lance."

Lance's NFL journey since being selected No. 3 overall in the 2021 NFL Draft hasn't gone as he or anyone expected, to say the least. But the worst of it might have come during an underwhelming preseason performance.

The 23-year-old QB completed 10 of 15 passes for 112 yards and one nearly intercepted touchdown, but those stats didn't portray the full picture. He was sacked four times and admitted he has to release the ball faster.

Lance and Sam Darnold are competing for the QB2 spot behind starter Brock Purdy, and regardless of what 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan decides to do with the rotation, Mostert believes the disrespect has gone too far. But it'll be on Lance to prove otherwise.

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