One analyst compares QB draft prospect Trey Lance to Steve McNair originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Of the quarterback prospects projected to hear their names called during the 2021 NFL Draft, few are stirring fiery debates like North Dakota State's Trey Lance.
Some question whether his 19 collegiate appearances against FCS competition has adequately prepared him for the highest level of the game. Others, like NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah, look past that to see a player not too dissimilar from a legend of the past.
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"Trey Lance, he reminds me of Steve McNair," Jeremiah said on Tuesday.
A former scout turned draft analyst, Jeremiah explained that he spent time with McNair toward the end of his time in Baltimore. In Lance, he sees the same sort of physicality and toughness that McNair brought to the Ravens offense.
"I was around Steve towards the end of his career, but when you watch him when he was younger, too, you'll see him run and you'll see him get hit by a linebacker at the 4-yard line and find his way into the end zone, and you see the same with Lance," Jeremiah said.
In 2019, his only full season as a starter, Lance completed nearly 67% of his passes for 2,786 yards. But he also demonstrated his mobility that year, rushing for 1,100 yards. The data sample is small, but impressive -- even against a lower level of competition.
Similar questions circled McNair heading into the 1995 draft. A product of another FCS school in Alcorn State, he dominated the Southwest Atlantic Conference in a way that has yet to be replicated and went on to lead the NFL in passer rating and take home MVP honors in 2003.
"You look at the power arms to be able to drive the football down the field. You look at guys that their teammates really, really rally around and love, I just think there's a lot of similarities between the two," Jeremiah concluded.
With Lance pretty much unanimously in the top five of every quarterback draft board, the debate should come to a close soon enough.
