Written By: Cameron Schoffro
Edited By: Colin Mari
This year's rookie quarterback class is very deep, yet most of them have failed to reach the lofty expectations set for them. Let’s take an individual look at how each of them has performed in the first stage of their career:
Trevor Lawrence - Jacksonville Jaguars
Trevor Lawrence was highly touted out of college, and for a good reason. He seemed to have all the tools that translate to the NFL. In college, Trevor possessed a great arm with both power and accuracy and seemed to know when to take chances on a deep throw. He appeared comfortable and poised in the pocket, with high football IQ, and is surprisingly mobile for his size. However, he's had a rocky start to his NFL career.
The Jaguars have been in the news for the wrong reasons recently. Their newly hired head coach, Urban Meyer, has been an off-the-field distraction with a scandal in his personal life and an on-the-field distraction with bad playcalling. As any first-overall pick, Lawrence wasn't going to step into a situation that would lead to wins, but this has become glaringly obvious when watching Jacksonville's games. It seems every game a receiver drops a pass on a crucial third down, leading to a punt and the offence leaving the field.
The Jaguars just mounted an impressive upset win over the Buffalo Bills; however, the defence was the focal point in this victory, especially because Trevor missed a portion of the game due to injury.
Sure, Lawrence hasn't seen instant success in the NFL as most fans expected, but he's shown flashes of great play, and I don't think there's any reason for concern about his ability. He's immensely talented, despite his few poor performances, but he's learning and will become better for it.
Mac Jones - New England Patriots
Prior to the draft, Mac Jones was considered a system quarterback, even in college. Alabama had an embarrassment of riches around him with Devonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle at receiver and Najee Harris at running back. Typically his receivers created several yards of separation before Mac threw it to them, or he'd throw screens and quick, short throws to get the ball in the hands of his talented receivers. That simply doesn't happen in the NFL, so many were skeptical of how Jones would transition to the big leagues. On top of that, he had one of the best minds in college football as head coach in Nick Saban and a stellar offensive line in front of him. Clearly, he was in the best situation in the nation and he didn't get much credit for Alabama's success.
Fortunately for Mac, the Patriots drafted him. His college coach, Saban, and NFL coach, Bill Belichick, are good friends and have utilized him similarly. They both understood what Mac is. He isn't Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, or Josh Allen, but he's capable of getting the ball out quickly and hitting accurate throws underneath the coverage. Belichick spent in free agency to get weapons for his rookie quarterback, the addition of Jonnu Smith, Hunter Henry, Nelson Agholor, and Kendrick Bourne has been crucial in ensuring a smooth transition for Jones. The Patriots are playing quarterback-friendly football, they aren't asking him to win games, they are asking him to not lose them and let the rest of the roster do their job, and it's become an effective strategy. They are on a three-game win streak and seem to get better every week. Time will tell if Jones can become anything more than a game manager, but he's been pretty successful in the first stage of his career.
Justin Fields - Chicago Bears
Justin Fields faced a steep learning curve in his first couple of games. In the draft, teams knew Fields was a little raw, a high ceiling but low floor kind of guy. The opposite of Mac Jones, if he isn't winning you games, he's probably losing them with his dynamic, risky playstyle. Knowing this, the Bears brought in Andy Dalton to start the year, hoping Fields could learn under his mentorship. After a pretty successful preseason, there was pressure on Chicago's coach, Matt Nagy, since Bears fans wanted to see more of their shiny new toy, Fields. Nagy stuck to his plan and rolled out Andy Dalton in all his mediocrity. Eventually, Bears fans got their wish. Andy Dalton suffered a bone bruise on his knee, and Fields became the starter.
Fields' debut was tough to watch; the Browns sacked him nine times, and he threw for an awful 30% completion percentage. Of course, more goes into these stats than solely Justin's performance. The offensive line and playcalling didn't do him any favours. Since then, he has been gradually improving every week, and his best performance came in his most recent game against Pittsburgh, where he displayed his full potential. He was rolling out of collapsed pockets and finding open receivers downfield without setting his feet, making difficult throws look easy. His effort was all for nothing when the Bears suffered a heartbreaking two-point loss to the Steelers. One may argue the refs were responsible for this loss due to some inexplicable flags, but that's an entirely separate conversation. Bears fans can take the moral victory in knowing they have finally landed a franchise quarterback, as long as Fields continues on his current trend of improvement.
Trey Lance - San Francisco 49ers
Trey Lance seemed to be headed to the best situation out of the rookie class; the only problem was the 49ers already had a quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo. San Francisco wasn't satisfied with Garoppolo and didn't believe he was maximizing their potential, so they traded up to take a flyer on a guy with super high potential. Lance had limited college experience and wasn't facing the most challenging competition, so it was a risky selection, but the 49ers were banking on his untapped talent. Lance showed many of the traits Allen did, predraft. They both attended small schools, are absolute giants, basically tight-ends at the quarterback position, and have cannons for arms. Lance has all the abilities that you can't teach, so Kyle Shanahan believed he can mould him into one of the premier quarterbacks in the NFL. Another factor leading to his high selection, at third overall, was that he is a student of the game and proved to have high-level football smarts. His main issue was accuracy and throwing difficult-to-catch passes.
Lance has shown both his strengths and weaknesses in the few games he's played. He is a highlight-reel filling player, but one of his biggest strengths, his powerful arm, has proved to be a double-edged sword. Lance has a hard time taking some speed off his ball, like a pitcher who can only throw fastballs. So he is putting all of his might into every throw, which, as a receiver, is bad news. His receivers have been dropping passes because they aren't used to the sheer velocity behind them. Coach Shanahan thought he solved this problem during practice, but the same problem surfaced in a game scenario. When he gets amped up for the game, he throws as hard as possible.
Zach Wilson - New York Jets
Zach Wilson faced similar criticisms to Lance since he went to BYU and put up insane numbers against terrible teams. Wilson didn't seem to have the tools of Lance, though. He looks smaller than his listed height of 6'2 and isn't as dynamic in the run game, but the Jets selected him second overall, regardless. When researching prospect profiles for Wilson, I found journalists were using words like "moxie" and "it-factor" which are, simply put, terms used when production doesn't match the talent. In his brief experience, teams exposed his lack of talent before spraining his PCL in week 7. Zach especially fell victim to Belichick’s defence, throwing four interceptions against New England. Wilson has had a few productive performances, notably in the overtime win over the Titans, but it has been a largely negative start to Wilson's career.
Now, Mike White has come in as injury relief for Wilson and has looked fantastic. Of course, White shouldn’t pose a long-term obstacle in Wilson’s development, but at the moment, he has the offence clicking much more efficiently.
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