I was wondering if Trey Lance was on the board in 2016, whether he would be the second pick in the draft like Wentz was. Probably not, there is more risk because of his inexperience. But I found this article from the NDSU coach, Randy Hedburg, which is enlightening. He likes the way Lance reads defenses. That’s encouraging. He also said Wentz should have had time to sit and learn, and related this to his own experience. He also says Lance is more athletic than Wentz.
I still think if Lance somehow falls to 7, I would not be upset if we picked him. He’d be the perfect candidate to learn for a couple years, while we get our team up to speed (I know that some of you think the reverse…i.e. team first then QB), but there is some merit to letting a QB learn. Then if Goff lights it up we have a good problem - two capable QB’s, and there’s nothing saying how we might be able to use Lance like NO uses Hill.
I would not be upset either. I think he has fantastic upside. I want the Lions to take a QB if they like a QB and believe in the pick. If that is Lance, so be it. If that is Mac Jones, so be it. If that is Justin Fields so be it.
I am on board with that strategy as well. QB is too important to put all your chips on one guy.
Aaron Rodgers benefited from sitting for 3 years behind Favre.
Any QB benefits from at least a year of acclimating in my opinion. When you throw a QB out there that is not fully ready, they default to their instincts/tendencies and make it MUCH easier for defenses to know how to defend you in the future. Even if a guy has initial success like Herbert or Burrows, the sophomore year is often a struggle because they’ve shown everything they’ve got to that point and what the weaknesses are.
I think if the two were in the same draft that there’s a decent chance Lance goes before Wentz does. I think his upside is higher and some GM’s would value him more than Wentz.
To be honest I never really liked Wentz. Lance I’ve wavered on… I think he has the potential to be very good but he’s raw and needs to land in the right situation.
Personally I think the only reason why anyone knows Lance’s name is because of Wentz. Wentz is clearly the better prospect and Lance only exists in a world that Wentz created. If the roles were reversed there’s no way Lance puts his name on the map on his own. And as far as my NFL assessment, Lance may thrive in a San Francisco #7 kind of way. Or he may fall into a dream scenario like Dak in Dallas. But in a normal scenario that most NFL teams are in…his accuracy issues are going to be a deal breaker. He would never be able to carry a franchise like he would in Detroit so the idea of drafting him is asking for heartbreak.
Are you talking about the guy with zero interceptions in 2019? I will admit that he always seemed to be throwing to wide open receivers, so he didn’t need alot of accuracy. But he has a knack of avoiding turnovers, no? I’d much rather have inaccuracy with few turnovers vs. the reverse, which may be a trait of our incumbent.
I brought up accuracy and you immediately focused on interceptions. The chances of us having a fruitful conversation immediately after that isn’t likely. We are a huge cavern apart at this point.
That’s a pretty Bold statement but I’m not sure I’d agree.
If Lance came out before Wentz and Lance didn’t have to play in a Covid season and had thrown 0 INts to 28 tds than I think teams would have noticed. He’s actually put up good numbers but hasn’t had a lot of playing time. So he’s raw sure …
Wentz had 4 years at NDSU and he looked pretty bad in his first two seasons.
Lance hasn’t even had two full seasons and he’s out performed what Wentz did in his first two years.
I don’t disagree that the recent success at NDSU has helped Lance but if the roles were reversed I think Lance could have done more than Wentz with the same playing time an opportunities.
Obviously it’s all conjecture.
At NDSU …
Lance completion percentage was 67% with a 180QBR
Wentz was 64% with a 153QBR
Look at Herbert and how he improved his accuracy in the NFL. I think Lance can do the same but I think he’s going to need more time to do it. He is the most Raw of the top 5QB’s in the draft.
I have no idea if Lance will be successful in the NFL but I think if he lands on the right team and with more playing time… I think Lance can be a better pro than Wentz.
I think right now Wentz is in a perfect situation. Indy has a good OL, above average receivers, and a stud RB… We should see the best Wentz the NFL has ever seen.
Lance is raw so I think he needs year or two more of development before being tossed to the wolves. But I think if he lands in an equally good situation and is brought along slowly, that he has the upside to be better than Wentz.
Lance needs to land somewhere that either:
Has an offense that throws only to the middle and left side of the field
Or
Can work with him to develop his technique where throwing to the right side isn’t a crap shoot.