Small-School Quarterback Called Patriots’ ‘Best Fit’ in the Draft

New England Patriots need to address their quarterback situation before it’s too late. Patriots’ former offensive coordinator Charlie Weis praised Alabama quarterback Mac Jones. Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields compared to Cam Newton. Pretty much everyone likes Zach Wilson. Trevor Lawrence is an excellent choice. Chase Goodbread has one quarterback option for the Patriots regarding the upcoming draft.

Goodbread would love to see Bill Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels work with North Dakota State star Trey Lance. However, he said the Patriots should trade up to sign the 20-year-old.

“A combination of intelligence, skills, and cold-weather experience make North Dakota State QB Trey Lance a nice fit with the Patriots if they turn to a rookie passer in 2021. Lance might not be on the board when New England is on the clock with the 15th overall pick, so if he is the QB Belichick desires, chances are it will require a trade up to land him.”

The best quarterback option for the Patriots draft

Goodbread’s colleague Daniel Jeremiah noted, “I could see Bill Belichick having a lot of fun with a guy like Trey Lance.”

Lance is probably the most impressive athlete at the quarterback position in the 2021 NFL draft. Therw will be no NFL Combine this year. Lance won’t be running the 40-yard dash at his Pro Day on March 12. However, speed and agility is the tiniest concerns related to Lance’s skills. The talented player can shoot, change directions and run with power.

Lance was clocked in the 4.5 rance on the 40-yard-dash. A GPS tracker reported that he was running at 21.45 miles per hour on his speediest run of the year.

Well, Lance is much more than ability. He reminds analysts of a huge Russell Wilson in the way he extends plays and sends the deep ball.

In 2019, Lance was able to complete 66.9% of his passes for 2,786 passing yards, 28 touchdowns, and no interceptions.

We’re about 2-3 years away from personnel departments not caring about 40 times. The game GPS data is going to replace it. Who cares what he ran in the 40, I know exactly how fast he ran in game conditions & I have 5 years of data for context.

— Daniel Jeremiah (@MoveTheSticks) February 27, 2021

Lance is young and he may not be able to step in from Day 1. Let’s see how will the Patriots handle this.