Detroit Lions: Taking a look at quarterback draft prospect Trey Lance

Here is a look at Trey Lance’s strengths and weaknesses as a quarterback if the Detroit Lions are going to consider him.

Strengths and Abilities

• Athletic
• Great Runner
• Pocket Presence
• Decision Making

The first two things I noticed is Lance’s strong arm and ability to run the ball. Matthew Stafford had a great arm too, and clicked well with former wide receiver, Calvin Johnson. He was also relatively mobile, at least in the pocket, but he was not a runner.

The NFL has seen somewhat of a transition as of late to more mobile quarterbacks with guys like Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson seeing success moving around and running the football.

Lance is super athletic.

He can escape pressure and throw on the run. In fact, many of his passes are designed that way. It almost reminds me of Baker Mayfield and the Cleveland Browns designing so many plays with the roll-out throws.

Lance is exceptionally accurate on the run, and threw about 75% of his passes outside of the pocket in the games I watched.

Considering that we will jump to how he performed under pressure. Lance was not pressured a ton, but when he was he produced well.

Another strength is his ability to protect the football. During his 2019 season he threw 28 touchdown and ZERO interceptions. While he can make things happen, he doesn’t force the football.

Lance can also drive the ball down field, and looks great in play-action situations.

Weaknesses and Flaws

• Inexperienced
• Lack of Playing Time
• Level of Competition

As we talked about before, Lance played in the FCS, meaning he was not facing great defenses when he was on the field. It’s a major concern for many people I’ve talked to.

That’s where we have to bring up Carson Wetnz.

Wentz was taken No. 2 overall in 2016 by the Philadelphia Eagles and was once mentioned as an MVP candidate until an injury took him out of contention. That obviously doesn’t have a ton of relevance in this situation, but it is proof that quarterbacks from this conference can succeed at a professional level.

As for the experience, only playing one full season is a huge concern for anyone who looks at Lance. NDSU is a run-first in terms of style of offense, so not having more tape to evaluate from another year of play could hurt his draft value.

99 Yards wrote:

"Lance has also been mostly a one read QB. If his first read isn’t open he tucks the ball in and sets off on the run. This is a NDSU scheme issue and not Lance’s fault, but it would have been nice to see him work through his progressions a little more at times."