This isn’t school, and I’m not a teacher. There won’t be some arbitrary grading scale after breaking down each first-round rookie QB performance in the NFL. Each quarterback displayed what made them highly sought-after draft prospects, and each showed the flaws that keep them from the ever-fleeting feeling of perfection.
Rookie QBs’ first NFL exposure | Top 3 picks
The first three rookie quarterbacks picked in the 2021 NFL Draft didn’t get a massive load of preseason work in their first outings, except for 49ers QB Trey Lance (who is not expected to start the season over Jimmy Garoppolo).
Trevor Lawrence
Trevor Lawrence had a fine outing in his first-ever NFL preseason game. The rookie quarterback took his lumps and made two plays showing the ridiculous upside the young gunslinger has.
It started as a struggle — Lawrence took a sack on his first dropback. It appeared he spent too much time with his eyes on Marvin Jones in the slot, even though the defense was effectively bracketing him east/west. By the time Lawrence got to his secondary read, which was open, it was too late. That’s okay — the game is a little faster at the NFL level.
The next play was a quick bubble screen that got the offense into a 3rd-and-9 situation. That led to one of the two plays Lawrence made that showed his potential.
The Browns showed a six-man rush but dropped their left defensive end back into a middle-of-the-field hook zone. The outside cornerback aligned over Marvin Jones in off coverage and flipped his hips as Jones stepped on his toes vertically.
That was all Lawrence needed to see, as he delivered a fantastic timing throw on an out route for a first down. He threw an accurate ball across the hashes to a spot, showing outstanding anticipation and poise under pressure.
He made another big throw on a freestyle play to Jones after about four seconds of protection. However, Lawrence has a bit of Blaine Gabbert to him in his first appearance, too. Despite having some time to work behind the Jaguars’ offensive line, he retreated on multiple throws unnecessarily.
Hopefully, we see a more confident and poised Lawrence as he receives playing time in the second preseason game. The physical tools flashed in his first outing. Hopefully, he displays comfortability on the field next time.
Zach Wilson
Wilson’s effort looked a bit pedestrian on the stat sheet. He completed 6 of 9 passes, the same mark as Lawrence. Yet, he impressed in a few ways that we didn’t necessarily see often in his time at BYU. Also, some of the concerns were still present.
We expect him to look good on play-action bootlegs, which allow him to get outside the pocket and use his rubber band arm to sling passes to horizontally moving receivers. At BYU, he wasn’t always decisive from inside the pocket.
In his first preseason game, the rookie QB only threw one pass farther than 10 yards. On 3rd and 9, he threw a laser on the money against man coverage 15 yards downfield on the left hash for a first down.
That third-down conversion was good, but his 3rd-and-6 conversion showed a good rapport with receivers despite being a late addition to camp because of his contractual situation. Wilson showed great anticipation and hit the sweet spot with the out route, connecting with Corey Davis perfectly despite tight coverage. If he hadn’t thrown the pass with a bit of anticipation, it would have been broken up or intercepted.
The Jets’ game plan appeared to focus on getting the ball out of Wilson’s hands quickly and cleanly. Moving forward, we should see the offense open up a bit throughout the preseason, where Wilson can loosen the taps a bit and push the ball downfield.
Trey Lance
Drop, sack, then touchdown. The sequence of events for the rookie quarterback in his first preseason drive certainly added to his lure. His first pass was made climbing the pocket and rolling right. The cameras had a difficult time tracking the pass because it had so much heat on it. In fact, so much that Brandon Aiyuk couldn’t hold on.
After a sack, the rookie QB rolled left and hit Trent Sherfield in stride on a post route far downfield on the right side. The play showed how important arm talent could be. He threw it across both hashes to the opposite numbers. However, the impressive part of the play was keeping his eyes left long enough to commit both safeties toward that sideline, which opened up the deep post for Sherfield.
Aiyuk, River Cracraft, and Richie James all dropped passes from Lance early. Lance was under duress for most of his pass attempts, particularly off the edge. As we advance, for him to be successful early, he must start becoming comfortable manipulating the pocket to his advantage and using the lanes awarded him for escaping pressure.
He does a good job keeping his eyes up when he does scramble, but his plan of attack needs to be fleshed out. There’s no denying his arm talent, but he must continue getting more comfortable with the speed of the game and playing against more spread-out defenses at the NFL level than he faced at NDSU.
As we advance, the 49ers should give Lance a bunch of preseason reps because the 21-year-old only has one year of FCS-level competition under his belt. All he needs is reps.
Rookie QB’s first NFL exposure | Fields shines against backups
Despite the Bears having issues keeping their offensive line healthy, QB Justin Fields played well in his first preseason outing.
Justin Fields
Fields didn’t get any run with the first team in his first preseason action, but he was impressive nonetheless. The Bears’ offense was play-action-heavy in Fields’ time on the turf, and he looked poised and ready for the task.
He looked like he belonged. He didn’t shy away from pressure, and he delivered some great passes along the way. Miami’s coverage was often draping the Chicago receivers, so Fields didn’t complete them all, but he wasn’t egregiously off-target on any of his throws, either.
He threw one pass he’d probably want back. On 2nd and 12 from his own 12-yard line, he tried to throw a ball with a bit of trajectory over the middle to a crossing receiver, but the defender was able to get a hand on it. The rookie QB got his first taste of real NFL speed. That defender tipped the ball up, and a nearby defensive back almost completed the interception.
Fields also got careless with the ball on the subsequent play. He scrambled left toward the sideline and tried spinning off a tackle. The defender was able to wrap up and force a fumble that the Bears were lucky to recover.
Now, we need to see Fields play with the starters in a preseason game. Fields was the third-fastest NFL player from the opening preseason weekend, clocking in at 20.39 MPH during a long scamper against the Dolphins.
His stoicism in the pocket and his natural athletic ability make him an extremely dangerous weapon offensively, even as the Bears face some serious questions surrounding their offensive line. Hopefully, he starts the next preseason game, even if only to see his rapport with the group.
Mac Jones was efficient in first outing
Jones is one of the rookie quarterbacks that could win himself a starting job in the future, depending on how he performs against Cam Newton.
Mac Jones
The rookie QB looked as expected in his first NFL preseason game. The Patriots’ passing attack stayed around the line of scrimmage for the most part. He took a few downfield shots. One was just a bit outside the reach of Gunner Olszewski, and the other was on the money to Kristian Wilkerson but broken up by the defender in the end zone.
Jones did what he does. He saw the field well, and, for the most part, he delivered catchable passes leveraged away from defenders. A few times on throws off-platform, the ball died a bit on Jones, forcing receivers to tie their shoes. Overall, the quarterback executed the game plan, as bland as it was.
Despite completing 13 of 19 passes, he only threw for 4.6 yards per attempt, which is a good day for a running back but a pathetic passing performance. That’s not to blame Jones, as he simply took what he was given.
The hope moving forward for the rookie signal-caller is we get to see a more aggressive Patriots offense that tests the third level of the defense outside of the infrequent downfield shot. Hopefully, they push for concepts attacking downfield closer to the hashes. Let’s see Jones deliver passes with pace 15-20 yards downfield.
Because if he shows he can do that, there’s no reason he couldn’t start sooner rather than later for New England.
Dalton Miller is the Lead NFL Analyst for Pro Football Network. To yell at him for his other work on the site, you can find his writing here and his voice and face on Pro Football Network Daily. Follow him on Twitch and Twitter @daltonbmiller.
