{"id":64948,"date":"2021-04-13T22:08:31","date_gmt":"2021-04-14T03:08:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clnsmedia.com\/?p=64948"},"modified":"2021-08-30T07:02:47","modified_gmt":"2021-08-30T07:02:47","slug":"lazar-north-dakota-state-qb-trey-lance-is-perfect-combination-of-fit-upside-for-patriots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clnsmedia.com\/?p=64948","title":{"rendered":"Lazar: North Dakota State QB Trey Lance is Perfect Combination of Fit, Upside for Patriots"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Patriots typically draft quarterbacks with plenty of experience under center in college.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Since Bill Belichick arrived in 2000, all 11 quarterback selections by New England spent four seasons in college, and all of them were multi-year starters for mainly power five schools.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Belichick also hasn\u2019t selected a quarterback higher than 62nd overall (Jimmy Garoppolo) in his tenure as the Patriots\u2019 head coach since he had Tom Brady at the helm for two decades.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Due to Brady\u2019s departure and a 7-9 season in 2020, Belichick was uncharacteristically aggressive in free agency and could once again take an atypical approach to the draft.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If he\u2019s willing to think a bit outside the box, North Dakota State\u2019s Trey Lance is uniquely talented to operate the old Pats playbook and the new adaptations we saw last year with Cam Newton.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lance only started one season for the Bison with 318 career pass attempts, which isn\u2019t the large sample size the Pats work with usually.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, Lance led North Dakota State to the 2019 national title as the first modern-era division one squad to go 16-0, scoring 42 total touchdowns (28 pass, 14 rush) to zero interceptions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After the pandemic mostly wiped out the 2020 FCS season, Lance began working with heralded QB coach Quincy Avery to shorten his throwing motion and improve his technique at the top of his drops.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Pro Football Focus charted just 47.1 percent of Lances’ throws in his lone season as the starter in 2019 as on-target, the lowest mark of any quarterback in the 2021 class.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Although Lance was hit-or-miss in terms of accuracy in 2019, he\u2019s a natural thrower that was wise beyond his years and handled significant responsibilities at the line of scrimmage. He\u2019s an incredibly hard worker, and it\u2019s unfathomable that he put the tape out that he did at age 19.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With the smoothness in his delivery and already solid mechanical foundation, Lance could see an improvement in accuracy once he gets to the NFL, similar to Josh Allen or Dak Prescott.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Neither Allen nor Prescott were accurate college passers, but they had natural throwing motions, as does Lance, and with a few tweaks became accurate downfield throwers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Furthermore, Lance\u2019s fit in New England\u2019s system is tremendous, coming from a North Dakota State’s pro-style scheme. As he would in Josh McDaniels\u2019s offense, Lance was asked to operate in the quick game, from under center off play-action, from the shotgun, and would seamlessly take over the option package installed for Cam Newton last season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Newton would also serve as an excellent bridge and mentor to Lance, who might benefit from backing up a veteran as a rookie, and would have a veteran team around him as he develops.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the surface, an inaccurate and inexperienced quarterback prospect might not strike you as a fit for the Patriots, but Lance is the draft\u2019s best fit when you factor in his college system and upside.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s go through Lance\u2019s tape from the 2019 season to show why he\u2019d work well in Foxboro:<\/span><\/p>\n

UNCOACHABLE TRAITS\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n

If you\u2019re going to draft a quarterback in the first round, most evaluators would tell you that they need to do things physically that are uncoachable.<\/span><\/p>\n

With Lance, his upside stems from incredible arm talent and mobility, allowing him to make every throw possible from the pocket or on the move.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mac Jones is widely considered the best schematic fit for the Patriots. Still, Lance\u2019s physical tools are well beyond what the Alabama product brings to the table, giving him significantly more upside.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n