Grading NFL’s next generation of quarterbacks: Trevor Lawrence rounding into form, Trey Lance’s rawness shows

Trevor Lawrence is starting to look like who we thought Trevor Lawrence would be. Ok, so the Jaguars aren’t very good, but their young quarterback is settling in. Trey Lance flashed in his debut as the 49ers starter, but there are still plenty of kinks to be worked out.

A grand total of nine quarterbacks selected in the past two NFL draft classes saw considerable playing time — more than 10 pass attempts — during a wild Week 5.

Let’s dive deep into the individual efforts of each quarterback and assign a grade on a per-snap basis, taking every individual aspect of their performance into account. Now that we’re into Week 3, the quarterbacks are listed from best to worst by season grade. 

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Best Throws: 

• Late in the first, Herbert demonstrated his speed on an 11-yard scramble for a first down. 
• The 72-yard touchdown to Mike Williams wasn’t the most difficult throw of Herbert’s career, but he wasn’t able to fully step into the throw. 
• Midway through the third, Herbert threw with gorgeous timing and accuracy to Keenan Allen on an out route from for 12 yards.
• Rolling left, Herbert demonstrated his immense arm talent by throwing back to his right to squeeze the football into Jalen Guyton with coverage draped on him. 
• From a clean pocket in the fourth, Herbert fired a fastball over the middle to Allen for 20 yards.
• After rolling to his right in the fourth, down seven, Herbert lofted a pass with perfect trajectory to Allen for 37 yards. 

Worst Throws: 

• Herbert threw wide of Mike Williams on the second throw of the game, on an out-breaking route.
• He missed low and outside on an in-breaker to Josh Palmer in the first quarter.
• In the third, Herbert pumped before throwing a double move to Williams toward the front left pylon. The throw was too wide of its intended target. 
  
  
• On the last throw of the third quarter, Herbert threw late on a dig route to Williams that was nearly intercepted.
• Midway through the fourth, Herbert was a shade behind Jared Cook on an in-breaking route.

Summary: You’re not going to believe this, but I’ve seen Herbert play better this season. The vast majority of his throws against Cleveland were schemed open and/or of the short variety. The high-degree of difficulty passes he put on film in each of the first four weeks weren’t as frequent, and the clear misses were more frequent.

Grade: B-

Season Grade: B+

Best Throws: 

• Late in the second, Burrow improvised well, reversing his field behind the line before finding Ja’Marr Chase deep down the field for a 70-yard score. The ball got to the wideout a half of a split second before the Packers defender was able to knock it away.
• With five minutes to go in the game, Burrow and Chase connected again on a picture-esque back-shoulder play.
• In overtime, there was a very similar throw from Burrow to Chase.

Worst Throws: 

• In the third, Burrow rolled right, and instead of throwing the ball away, he tried to force one over the top to Auden Tate. But the ball was underthrown and intercepted by Adrian Amos.
• Later in the third, Burrow found himself in a dirty pocket and threw a moon ball to Chase deep down the field. The ball shouldn’t have been thrown. 

Summary: It was what is becoming a classic Burrow game for the 2021 season. Plenty of easy, schemed-open completions and a few long balls to Chase. I still want to see more aggression from the second-year quarterback.

Grade: B-

Season Grade: B-

Tagovailoa was knocked out of the Week 2 game against Buffalo on the second drive of the game on a hit by Bills second-year edge rusher A.J. Epenesa. He’s currently on IR. 

Grade: N/A

Season Grade: B-

Best Throws: 

• Late in the second, Hurts threw with good timing and velocity on a comeback route to Jalen Reagor for 15 yards.
  
  
• With under a minute to go in the half, while drifting left, Hurts fired one into DeVonta Smith on an in-breaking route for 17 yards.
• Late in the third, Hurts found Quez Watkins on a post from the slot while behind hit for a 53-yard gain. The receiver was open but Hurts had to throw to a spot.

Worst Throws: 

• Early in the first, Hurts threw behind a shallow cross to Reagor that had no business being thrown. Jeremy Chinn was waiting for for the crosser anyway.
• Right before the half, Hurts airmailed a corner route intended for Zach Ertz.
• In the third, Hurts missed Ertz open on a wheel route. The high throw was intercepted by a ranging Donte Jackson.
• In the fourth, Hurts under threw Kenneth Gainwell on a sideline route from the backfield.
• On the next play, he ripped a slant too far out in front of Ertz, and it fell incomplete.

Summary: Fresh off his most impressive performance as a pocket passer in the NFL in Week 4, Hurts took a noticeable step in the wrong direction against the Panthers. The initial game plan was jaw-droppingly conservative, but even as Nick Sirianni decided to get more aggressive with his quarter, Hurts was off-target on too many throws for the Eagles to consistently move the ball.   

Grade: C

Season Grade: C+

Best Throws: 

• The two-yard touchdown to Jesper Horsted looked awkward, but Fields somehow fit the ball into the tight end while being hit as he rolled right. The ball had serious velocity on it. 
• In the second, Fields threw a strike on an out-breaking route to Allen Robinson just before getting hit.
• Later in the fourth, Fields had just enough velocity to get the ball to Darnell Mooney between two defenders down the seam for 13 yards.
• Fields’ last throw of the game was a laser through traffic to Cole Kmet on a slant for 14 yards.

Worst Throws: 

• On his second throw of the game, Fields hesitated then overthrow Kmet down the sideline.
• Right before the half, Fields threw late and high on an out route to Darnell Mooney.
• On sack late in the second, Fields had Jimmy Graham open in the flat but held the ball too long. 

Summary: The Bears are taking things slowly with Fields, and while the wow throws he made in Week 4 weren’t there against the Raiders, I like how he didn’t put the ball in harm’s way. There weren’t many challenging or bad throws in this game. Plenty of easy completions.

Grade: B-

Season Grade: C+

Best Throws: 

• Late in the first, Jones fit one into Nelson Agholor over the middle through tight coverage.
• The fourth-quarter touchdown to Hunter Henry had perfect trajectory. 
• Late in the game, Jones got it to Henry over the middle just before two Texans defenders hit him.

Worst Throws: 

• An underneath out-breaker to Henry was nearly intercepted by a linebacker. 
• Jones’ interception was a throw, from an unbalanced base, over the middle. It didn’t have enough velocity on it and was too far to the inside.
• In the third, Jones spun out of the pocket, and tried to complete a long throw to Jakobi Meyers that should’ve been intercepted by a sinking corner near the sideline.
• Jones last throw of the contest was late and wide of N’Keal Harry down the numbers. 
  
  

Summary: Most of Jones big completions came on throws to totally wide open receivers. Of course there were a litany of short throws and checkdowns, and there were a few off-target tosses against the Texans.

Grade: C+

Season Grade: C+

Best Throws: 

• Mills’ touchdown to Anthony Auclair was thrown with perfect placement and velocity over the middle.  
  
  
• Jordan Akins was found by Mills on an out route for nine yards with the necessary timing and accuracy.
• Somehow, Mills squeezed a pass into Chris Moore over the middle between a bunch of Patriots defenders. 
• While somewhat of a broken coverage, Mills did hit Chris Conley in stride with a step on the cornerback, for a 40-yard score. 
• Mills hit Moore in stride on a in-breaker in the second half that ultimately went for 27 yards. 
• In the fourth, there was a comeback route that hit Cooks a split second before the underneath defender knocked it away. 
  
  

Worst Throws: 

• While he was being hit, Mills underthrew Brandin Cooks on a deep long ball across the field early in the game. 
  
  

Summary: Mills against the Patriots was night and day better than how abysmal he was against the Bills in Week 4. He created when necessary, and made a handful of throws with confidence. More importantly, he took very good care of the football in the narrow defeat at the hands of New England.

Grade: A-

Season Grade: C+

Best Throws: 

• On his first drive of the game, Lawrence stepped up and away from pressure before squeezing it into Dan Arnold through tight coverage for 18 yards. 
  
  
• Early in the second, Lawrence subtly moved right, located Marvin Jones open on a deep corner route and threw with perfect trajectory to him for a 25-yard gain.
• Also in the second, Lawrence effortlessly spun away from a free rush, and while rolling left found Tavon Austin for a 22-yard gain. Highly athletic play and a nice display of his arm talent.

• Though in the stat-book as a one-yard touchdown, Lawrence’s pass to Jacob Hollister was ideally placed right near the back left pylon, the only location where the tight end could catch it. Perfect timing and accuracy. 
• In the third, Lawrence dropped one in the bucket to Marvin Jones for what should’ve been a long gain. The catch would’ve been a challenging one, as two defenders were in tight, but it was dropped. Lawrence was also pressured on the play. 

Worst Throws: 

• Late in the second, Lawrence threw off-balance to Jamal Agnew on a shallow cross. The less-than-solid foundation led to the throw being too high and late, and it fell incomplete. 
• Midway through the third quarter, Lawrence held the ball far too long and was late to scramble. He was ultimately sacked by Harold Landry for a 13-yard loss.
• On what would’ve been a touchdown to bring Jacksonville within one score, Lawrence slightly misfired on a jerk route by Laviska Shenault near the goal line in the fourth quarter. 
• While it was the last play of the game in garbage time, Lawrence threw the ball directly to Titans safety Kevin Byard in the end zone. 

Summary: Lawrence built on a strong performance in Week 4 with an even stronger one in Week 5. There were a fire minor misfires but they were outweighed by the amount of high-level throws he made. The game is starting to slow down for Lawrence. He’s not making nearly as many dangerous throws as he did early in the season.  

Grade: B+

Season Grade: C

Best Throws: 

• Late in the third, Wilson made a super-long throw to Elijah Moore in the Cover 2 sideline hole. Moore made an awesome catch but was just out of bounds. 
• In the fourth, Wilson threw with proper timing and accuracy to Keelan Cole for 27 yards on a deep out route.
• Cole was later found by Wilson on a strike on the numbers for 15 yards with two defenders closing in on the passing lane. 
  
  

Worst Throws: 

• Late in the first, Wilson threw behind Corey Davis on a deep in-breaking route.
• Wilson’s interception came on a throw that shouldn’t have been made. It was a deep comeback with the safety staring directly at the route. Had the throw been made toward the sideline, it may have been completed. But it was closer to the seam, so the Falcons defender was able to make a play on the ball.  
• In the second, Wilson threw an easy pass into the flat to Jamison Crowder that skipped to its intended target.
• Midway through the third, Wilson tried a long ball to Davis down the sideline, but the ball was too far toward the middle of the field.
• In the fourth, Wilson got through his reads but his throw into the flat was way high and outside.
• On his last drop back of the game, Wilson made an initial pass rusher miss but held onto the ball too long and was sacked for a 17-yard loss.

Summary: This was a disappointing effort from Wilson especially considering how last week felt like a breakout performance. The improvisational brilliance was not there, and he was mostly off-target on the same type of throws he connected on last week.

Grade: D+

Season Grade: C-

Best Throws: 

• On the first play of the game, Lance almost immediately took off — not the most ideal thing from a quarterback perspective — but on the scramble he demonstrated just how fast and athletic he is, rumbling for 14 yards. 
• From deep in his own end, Lance snuck out of a muddy pocket and scampered for 11 yards. 
• Early in the second, Lance’s arm strength was on full display on a rocket to Brandon Aiyuk through the smallest of windows near the sideline.
• Late in the second, Lance fired a strike over the middle through traffic to Mohamed Sanu that was dropped.
• In the third quarter, Lance waited patiently for Brandon Aiyuk to run an intricate comeback route and threw a heater to the second-year wideout. 
• With right around five minutes to go, Lance found Deebo Samuel on a deep over. While the pass was late, it was high, exactly where it needed to be for the star receiver to make a play. 

Worst Throws: 

• Lance’s first drive ended with an interception on a play in which Travis Benjamin was open over the middle but the pass sailed over his head. A little too much adrenaline running through Lance’s veins.  
• Midway through the third, Lance created outside the pocket for a long time before lofting an ill-advised pass to fullback Kyle Juszczyk with two defenders all over him. Fortunately for the 49ers it fell incomplete.
• The next throw was a roll to his left that was late and sailed well over Benjamin’s head near the sideline.
• In the fourth, Lance had Aiyuk open on a slant but the pass was hurried and too high.

Summary: Lance, still, is not fully ready. He’s leaning on his legs far too early, however, there were a few more impressive throws in Week 5 than there were in Week 4. The dangerous passes didn’t subside and he’s routinely late or slightly to moderately noticeably off-target.  

Grade: C-

Season Grade: C-

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