While we do not want to overreact to the preseason debut for the five first-round rookie quarterbacks, we do have new data points to review. Let’s review how these rookies looked in the preseason debut both on the stat sheet and how they looked on all of their productive plays.
Trey Lance
Lance had the single most impressive throw in his preseason action on his 80-yard connection with Trent Sherfield that resulted in a touchdown. He also had a very impressive conversion with his heels in his endzone where his tight end had plenty of room after the catch for a total of 34 yards. Outside of those two plays, Lance looked very bad, though his potential was clear.
Lance threw for only 15 yards on his 16 other dropbacks in his debut game. He also took four sacks that resulted in a loss of 31 yards and killed several drives. He did not have a single rushing attempt, which is more likely Shanahan trying to keep the backup quarterback healthy give Jimmy Garappolo’s injury history. Lance looked better than his advanced metrics give off.
Completions: 4
Attempts: 15
Net Yards per Dropback: 5.4
TDs: 1
Interceptions: 0
Sacks: 4
On Target Rate: 40%
Danger Throws: 2
Zach Wilson
Wilson looked good in his debut, not great but just sold. He didn’t force any balls into dangerous throws, but his attempts all lacked difficulty. He often took the check-down option and just took what the defense was giving him. Knowing that defenses play more vanilla defensive schemes in the preseason makes Wilson’s performance less impressive.
Wilson is as we expected him to be, not having any elite traits, and it showed on the field. He made some impressive throws to convert first downs in tight coverage, but again these are throws that we expect starting quarterbacks to make in the NFL. If Zach Wilson is asked to put the team on his back and win games we likely won’t see many years one success. However, if he is just asked to sit back, the game manages, take what the defense gives him, it would be a vast improvement over Sam Darnold’s performance for the Jets.
Completions: 6
Attempts: 9
Net Yards per Dropback: 7.0
TDs: 0
Interceptions: 0
Sacks: 0
On Target Rate: 75%
Danger Throws: 0
Trevor Lawrence
On his first snap in the NFL Preseason, Lawrence was pressured and strip-sacked. He then showed us why he is a generational talent by converting a third down on the drive. He had a great pocket presence, outside of the strip-sack and put the ball in locations that gave his receiver a chance to win.
Lawrence’s numbers do not paint a full picture of his play as he made some very impressive throw-aways or incompletions that only his receiver had a chance on making the play. We do not expect the Jaguars to be competitive through the season despite their much-improved roster. Marvin Jones was very impressive in contested catch situations and Laviska Shenault showed his elite yard-creation after the catch. This should be a fun team to watch as they grow into a contender under Urban Meyer and Trevor Lawrence.
Completions: 6
Attempts: 9
Net Yards per Dropback: 5.5
TDs: 0
Interceptions: 0
Sacks: 2
On Target Rate: 67%
Danger Throws: 0
Mac Jones
Jones had the second most impressive stat line in his preseason debut. He had several instances where he faced pressure up front and was able to hang in the pocket and deliver accurate passes down the field with defenders in his face. He largely took what the defense was giving him, checking down to wide receivers and letting them create extra yardage after the catch. This will be the main difference in comparing Mac Jones’s college statistics to his early NFL statistics is the ability of the receivers.
Jones completed an impressive 69% of his pass attempts and even showed off some mobility by converting a third-and-short on the ground. However, in this action, it was clear that he will never be a threat on the ground other than broken plays. His play was very impressive overall, but we will see what happens to that completion percentage when defenses are utilizing their schemes. It is worth stating that Jones did not take a sack against the very impressive Washington defensive front, led by Chase Young.
Completions: 13
Attempts: 19
Net Yards per Dropback: 3.9
TDs: 0
Interceptions: 0
Sacks: 0
On Target Rate: 83%
Danger Throws: 0
Justin Fields
Fields was certainly the most impressive quarterback in his NFL debut. The Bears consistently had him succeeding on boot-leg passes, where his combination of speed and accuracy was menacing for the Dolphins defense. Multiple times he converted broken plays with touch and accuracy on the run, he looked like a more athletic version of Russell Wilson.
Fields was not without error though, as he threw one pass that certainly should have been intercepted. However, it was impressive that he didn’t take any sacks given the pressure that he faced on some plays, especially after being labeled as a slower processer mentally based on Ryan Day’s offensive schemes. Fields did muff a snap and fumble on a scramble where he let a defender poke the ball out mid-spin.
Completions: 14
Attempts: 20
Net Yards per Dropback: 7.0
TDs: 2
Interceptions: 0
Sacks: 0
On Target Rate: 89%
Danger Throws: 1
All of these quarterbacks made rookie mistakes but most of them were impressed in their showing, whether it resulted in positive marks on the stat sheet or the potential of greatness with some minor improvements. If you had invested in any of these rookie quarterbacks on your fantasy rosters you should be feeling good about their potential. Based on what they showed up to four of the five may earn the starting job by week one of the 2021 season.
Thank you for reading my article! If you enjoyed it, keep an eye out for my future articles. You can also follow me on Twitter @DynastyDiagnos1 and reach out with any questions, comments, or ideas you’d like me to explore for a new article.
Did you enjoy this article and want more Dynasty, Devy, IDP, and Redraft content? Click here for a 12-month DFF Membership.
