It's an interesting perspective. Lance does seem impressive and SF is a great landing spot for him.IMO, getting it right would have been a second quarterback. Jones fell beyond the 12 slot that we briefly owned, and Fields fell within a cheap ladder back up. Obviously that's impossible to pinpoint ahead of time. But with 5 highly rated quarterbacks I think Miami's priority should have been to come away with one of them. I am not a believer in arbitrarily calling a guy a franchise quarterback then waiting around for him. How can anyone argue there's not enough time or reps in practice based on what we've experienced recently, when reporters covering those events didn't have any trouble proclaiming that Fitzpatrick was well ahead of Rosen, etc? It's a ridiculous cop out to pretend you don't know anything unless both guys have equal footing in game situations with the first team.
Trey Lance is a really impressive guy. Frankly I didn't know a darn thing about him until watching the interviews and clips. He's extremely well spoken and seems to be sharp. From a football standpoint he holds the ball low and he's got too long of a windup. That stuff needs to be cleaned up. He also needs to put on some weight. Right now he's built like a Fresno State quarterback. That's the look they always send out recently, an athletic kid who technically also throws the ball.
I think Grier got stuck on the notion of wide receiver and playing hopscotch instead of grasping the immense value of the 3 pick, especially given 5 quarterbacks in play. Or maybe 3 quarterbacks since 2 would be gone. He should have taken his best shot in terms of identifying who he preferred among Jones/Fields/Lance and then maneuvered accordingly. Or don't maneuver at all if you think you can only get him at 3. It seemed obvious late that Justin Fields would slip somewhat. He's got the great downfield capability but hindered by the awful high elbow crank. This organization needs a specialized coach who understands mechanics at every position and can evaluate stuff like Lance's long delivery and Fields' poor backswing.
We are now drafting impressive human beings, and not glassy eyed airheads like Dion Jordan. That's the greatest difference I see recently. My youth featured the same type of thing. We were considered the smartest most resourceful team in the league in those days and it was immediately apparent as soon as you heard them speak. Then somehow for decade after decade we brainstormed to draft guys who made me cringe upon the first sentence or two out of their mouth. Even if I wasn't thrilled with the Hunter Long pick there's no question he fits the blueprint of type of guy who Flores will appreciate because he's got a lot of Flores in him.
Tua's college tape looks very ordinary the more I look at it. That's the concern. Not the passes themselves but the effort required and the overall level of athlete delivering the ball. Last season I didn't care about YPA or anything else compared to the shocking aspect that Tua looked a bit overmatched out there. Contrast to Bon Griese who never looked out of place for one second. I wouldn't have been intent on a second swing at quarterback without those images of Tua as lacking. Now he just needs to prove me wrong via all the adjustments like strength training and one year further removed from injury. In the meantime I wish we had someone like Justin Fields or Trey Lance or Mac Jones on the roster even if it meant forfeiting Jaylen Waddle.
In all honesty Tua didn't play as well as I expected last year. But his high points, best moments, were impressive. I think and hope that is what he becomes.
It's certainly not like he had much talent around him last year.