It’s largely expected that the Indianapolis Colts will get their new franchise quarterback this offseason. The most prominent thinking is that this decision will be made with their fourth overall selection in the draft. However, GM Chris Ballard said at his press conference this past week that the team has not yet zeroed in on a player. So, it can make sense for the Colts to acquire Trey Lance.
The team doesn’t have one single player in mind for their pick at number four. To be fair, it does make sense, as there is no guarantee about who will go with the first three picks. There is a lot of speculation about who will be drafted by what team, but obviously, nobody knows anything at this point. And considering Ballard did share that they have 17 players with first-round grades, it makes a lot of sense for the Colts to just go with the best player available at four.
The horseshoe does have a lot of needs besides the quarterback. It’s also being reported that San Francisco is open to trading Lance. The Colts should be a team inquiring about Lance’s price tag. Here’s why.
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Unlike rookies, Trey Lance already has some NFL seasoning
Previous rumors linked the Indianapolis Colts to a potential Lamar Jackson trade. That doesn’t seem to be the case anymore, especially since own Jim Irsay isn’t a fan of handing out fully guaranteed contracts. However, the logic of the Colts acquiring a young quarterback who has NFL experience does make sense. This is where the idea of getting Lance starts to make some sense.
Lance is still on his rookie contract. In fact, he’s got two more years and possibly a third if the Colts pick up his fifth-year option. So, the Colts would get two years to see what they have in Lance to see if he’s worth not only picking up that option but also extending him with a new contract. He still is only 23 years old with two years of experience but just four games of starting experience.
Despite the small sample size, this is more experience than any of the rookie quarterbacks coming out of the draft. So, he’ll already be more likely to hit the ground running and provide instant success. And it’s not like the AFC South is nearly as difficult as the NFC West. So, Lance will have a much better chance at winning the division with the Colts.
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Shane Steichen is a better fit for Lance than Kyle Shanahan
Now, a big reason why Lance is available is because of the success of former Mr. Irrelevent Brock Purdy’s success. Purdy is currently recovering from surgery and is expected to be back at some point for the 49ers. It’s no secret that Purdy was better in head coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense than Lance was.
Shanahan is one of the best offensive minds in the NFL. The success that San Francisco experienced last season with three different quarterbacks is the best example. However, Shanahan isn’t known for the development of his quarterbacks. For example, the last time he had a mobile quarterback was in 2012 with Robert Griffin III.
That year on the surface, Washington had a good offense. However, when you look closer, you’ll see that their passing offense was bad, as they ranked 30th in attempts and 20th in yards. They had 11 games where they passed for less than 200 yards (including playoffs) and only three games where they passed for 300 yards or more. In fact, their last two games saw the team pass for less than 100 yards.
That is not something you expect to see in football then or now, and it’s not something you expect to see from a Shanahan offense. The truth is, Griffin’s passing was never developed throughout the season as it should have, and a reason for that is Shanahan never worked with a rookie quarterback.
More positives for Lance
A lack of coaching experience with rookies won’t be the case for the Indianapolis Colts if they add Lance. Colts head coach Shane Steichen has several years of experience developing young quarterbacks. So, while Lance’s stats to date may not inspire confidence, his working with an NFL head coach and quarterbacks coach with a reputation and history for improving the performance of a signal-caller should inspire plenty of confidence.
There is a reason for optimism with Lance. As previously mentioned, he only has started four games at the pro level, but he also has a total of eight games of NFL experience. And in that experience, there are some things to really like.
| Drop % | Bad Throw % | On Target % |
| 7.15% | 26.1% | 68.6% |
It should be noted that Lance only has a total of 102 pass attempts in his career. So, these numbers are coming from a small sample size and also mean there is room for improvement. If you’re still not encouraged by Lance with the Colts and their success then just look back at what success Steichen had with Jalen Hurts in Philadelphia. Lance to the Colts might be a long shot to happen. But it wouldn’t be the worst thing for the franchise.
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