NFL Preseason: Trey Lance Stumbles, Russell Wilson Looks Cooked

In this jam-packed Preseason Week 1 Walkthrough …

• The Russell Wilson Redemption Tour opens to mixed (read: awful) reviews;
• Baker Mayfield wins the Tampa Bay Buccaneers starting job. Or does he?
• Justin Fields does very little, but it means an awful lot;
• Nathan Rourke looks like the best Canadian import since poutine;

Plus, this weekend’s Winners and Losers, and much more. But first …

Last Call for the Double-Clutch Kid

Oh Trey Lance, we hardly knew ye.

Lance was always more of a concept than a prospect. He was an urban legend, a campfire story for weary NFL scouts:

So there’s this quarterback in the hinterlands who only played one season. Heck, his final season was even canceled, ’cept for one game. But I hear he’s smart as a whip, fast as a wild mustang and can throw the football through a wall …

The 49ers traded two future first-round picks in 2021 to move up and select Lance, the cryptid, the abstraction of an ideal quarterback prospect, the kid who was unstoppable for North Dakota State against mighty Butler and Western Illinois two years earlier.

Just two years later, Lance is no longer the 49ers’ quarterback of the future. He’s not even their starter. When he took the field with second stringers against the Las Vegas Raiders backups on Sunday, he was battling to protect his backup role from reclamation project Sam Darnold. Lance may have already lost that battle.

Lance spent his first three series of the Raiders’ 34-7 victory double-clutching and absorbing sacks instead of passing. It was as if the football was stapled to his hand. The shaky, indecisive Lance clearly did not trust what he was seeing.

And when Lance did trust what he was seeing, at the end of his first quasi-successful drive, he threw late into tight coverage in the end zone. His pass caromed off defender Duke Shelley into the hands of tight end Ross Dwelley for the weekend’s most misleading touchdown.

That touchdown and some dump-offs made Lance’s statistics look respectable (10-of-15, 112 yards, one fluky ricochet) as long as you ignore the four sacks. But it was a discouraging afternoon for a quarterback who has never shown more than brief glimpses — or maybe mirages — of his fabled potential. 

Yes, the 49ers backup offensive line looked dreadful. No, Lance didn’t have anyone like Deebo Samuel to turn quick screens into 40-yard gains. But it’s impossible to not see how things are trending. 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan isn’t even entertaining the possibility of a competition between Lance and Brock Purdy, who was a seventh-round rookie fighting for a third-string job 12 months ago. Shanahan didn’t give Lance a few real starters for support on Sunday. The 49ers do not even appear all that interested in showcasing Lance for a trade; the team that invested so much in Lance is now strangely univested in him.

The Lance we saw on Sunday looked lost, a befuddled passer with a broken pocket clock, a faded prospect entering his third-straight rookie season. Maybe all the injuries — hand and knee in 2021, ankle last year — sapped his confidence. Maybe Lance was never destined to fit in Shanahan’s quick-decision, quick-trigger offense. 

Or maybe Lance was always more of a wish than a plan.

Either way, Lance will likely spend yet another year as the most exciting quarterback that no one will ever see.

Russ: Cooked

Russell Wilson had a chance to launch a comeback campaign when he faced the Arizona Cardinals on Friday. Instead, his performance gave off heavy, toasty Matt-Ryan-with-the-Colts vibes.

Wilson, once one of the NFL’s greatest playmakers on the run, looked panicked whenever the  pass rush approached in what ended as an 18-17 Cardinals victory over the Denver Broncos. He nearly fumbled the ball away on a sack after one heavy rush. He improvised an ill-advised shovel pass on another. On a third, he floated a would-be interception into the middle of the field, just over the fingertips of a safety. His first series ended with a pass batted at the line. His fourth series, against the backups for a team that went 4-13 last year, finally ended with a fourth-and-5 touchdown on a slant-and-run by Jerry Jeudy.

Yes, Wilson threw a few crisp passes,too. But his jitters and suspect decision making under pressure were troubling. And Sean Payton’s decision to keep the Broncos starting offense on the field well into the second quarter was also revealing. Payton didn’t like what he saw — how could he? — and he wasn’t about to shrug it all off as preseason rust.

“I wanted to score and leave a good taste in our mouth,” Payton said, biting deeply into his tongue, when asked about his decision to play his starters for a fourth series. 

Wilson’s instincts in the pocket may be gone, but his instincts as a spin doctor remain unparalleled. “I think it was really good how we responded,” he said after the game. “After the first drive, the ball started moving, the third drive, and then the fourth drive we honestly finished it off.” 

The spectacle of watching seasoned veterans grind into the second quarter of an August exhibition brought back memories of how Ryan’s lost 2022 season for the Colts began. Ryan looked like a skittish and sluggish shell of his former self last preseason. But the Colts, who traded for the then-37-year-old and touted him as a playoff-caliber field general, made Ryan play series after series in two of their preseason games. The results left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth, foreshadowing a miserable season.  

Wilson, unlike Ryan, can still run a bit, as he demonstrated on Friday. But that won’t matter if he no longer wants to take a hit. As for the it’s only preseason caveat, there’s a difference between a starting offense looking out of sync while shaking off the rust and a 34-year old suddenly ejecting the football in random directions when pressured. 

Very little went right for the Broncos in their 18-17 loss. They suffered three missed/blocked field goals. The offensive line, mostly real starters, did Wilson no favors. Backup Jarrett Stidham was less effective than Wilson. The defense starters looked solid, but it was facing a team helmed by Colt McCoy and Clayton Tune. 

Some of the Broncos’ issues will be straightened out by September. But as Ryan demonstrated last season, an aging quarterback who loses the ability to handle pressure is unlikely to ever get it back.

At Peace With Baker Mayfield

The least-suspenseful, least-interesting quarterback competition in recent memory may have already come to an end. Baker Mayfield started for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Friday night and spent most of his four series against the Pittsburgh Steelers handing off and tossing rollout passes into the flats before throwing a lovely nine-yard touch pass to rookie Trey Palmer in the corner of the end zone. It wasn’t stellar, but it was sturdy.

Kyle Trask entered the game and promptly threw an interception when Steelers defensive back Trenton Thompson undercut an in-route. Trask’s second series, a would-be two-minute drill, stalled when Ko Kleft dropped a third-down pass thrown a little behind him. 

Mayfield went 8-of-9 for 63 yards, a touchdown and zero sacks in what ended as a 27-17 Steelers victory. Trask, who played through the third quarter, finished 6-of-10 for 99 yards with one interception and three sacks. (The same offensive line stayed in the game for both quarterbacks). Trask, a second-round pick in 2021, has now thrown two touchdowns and five interceptions, with 16 sacks, in 132 pass attempts across three preseasons. 

Per longtime Buccaneers reporter Ira Kaufman, Mayfield won the quarterback competition before Friday’s game even began. But Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles said after the game that Trask will start next week and that the starting job is still open for grabs. 

It’s worth noting that NFL head coaches will claim that the sky is pink with purple polka dots just to refute an insider report that the sky is blue. But general manager Jason Licht has been touting Trask as a potential starter since shortly after Tom Brady’s second/final(?) retirement, so there may be a touch of office politics at work.

Or maybe Trask, who has never shown much preseason promise, really does have a chance to start ahead of Mayfield, a former first-overall pick who, for all his trevails, looked like a potential franchise quarterback as recently as 2021.

Seriously though: Mayfield is going to be the Buccaneers starter.

Preseason Week 1 Winners

Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin was this weekend’s biggest winner.

Hamlin went into cardiac arrest and nearly died on the field during a Bills-Bengals Monday night game on January 2nd. The game was suspended. A nation held its breath. First-responders got Hamlin’s heart beating again before racing him to the hospital. 

Hamlin left the hospital on January 11th. He visited the White House a few weeks later. He won awards. He made inspirational appearances at the ESPYs and NFL Honors. He became a symbol of perseverance, courage and hope. 

And then, on Saturday, he became something even more extraordinary: just another football player running around the field in a meaningless practice game.

Hamlin’s return to football reminds us that In the wake of extreme trauma, in the face of near tragedy, the greatest accomplishment of all can be simply returning to work, the greatest blessing a chance to go back to your everyday routine.

Placing Hamlin in a countdown of rookies who produced preseason highlights and veterans who saved their jobs feels a little trite. So let’s elevate him to his own category and get on with the weekend’s biggest winners:

10. Justin Fields, Quarterback, Chicago Bears
Despite what the stat sheet says (129 yards, two touchdowns, a perfect 158.3 passer rating), Fields did not do much on Saturday. His 62-yard touchdown pass to D.J. Moore, which traveled the length of a suburban driveway through the air, was actually thrown a little behind its target. (On the other hand, Fields’ scrambling dump-off to Khalil Herbert for a 56-yard toss-and-run touchdown was right on the money.)

Fields makes this week’s winner’s list because Saturday’s performance shows what he can do now that he has a quality supporting cast. Most of Fields’ receivers last year would have batted the pass Moore caught straight into the hands of the nearest defender, then gotten injured. 

Fields won’t have to do everything by himself this year. That should allow him to work on some details, like his accuracy on really routine throws.

9. Tyjae Spears, Running Back, Tennessee Titans
Neither Malik Willis nor rookie Will Levis separated himself in the battle for the right to replace Ryan Tannehill when the Titans give up on the 2023 season sometime around Week 9. Third-round rookie Spears, however, was everything his predraft admirers could have hoped for, demonstrating quick cuts and delivering blows to his tacklers on six carries for 32 yards, a short reception and a kickoff return against the Bears’ kinda-sorta starters. Spears is the change-up back the Titans need, because Derrick Henry isn’t going to last forever. Probably. 

8. Derius Davis, Returner/Receiver, Los Angeles Chargers
Davis probably locked down a job as the Chargers’ return man with an 82-yard punt return touchdown that demonstrated both his track-star speed (Davis was a 200-meter Louisiana state high school champion) and ability to weave through traffic. 

Davis also caught two passes for 21 yards. Don’t overlook his ability to play a role in this offense: The Chargers have lots of big receivers but lack a tiny screens-and-reverses threat in the slot.

7. Detroit Lions’ Top Draft Picks
Rookie running back Jahmyr Gibbs shook off getting stuffed in the backfield on his opening carry to rush six times for 19 yards, with one impressive catch (he alertly made himself an inviting target during a Nate Sudfeld scramble) for 18 yards. Gibbs also spotted blitzers and threw his body around in pass protection. 

Fellow first-round pick Jack Campbell got involved in back-to-back run stops in the second quarter and looked like he knew what he was doing in pass coverage, while second-round defensive back Brian Branch made a fine open-field tackle in the flat on the opening drive.

On a very slight down note for Lions rookies, second-round tight end Sam LaPorta had a fourth-and-one pass knocked out of his hands on his lone target.

6. Seattle Seahawks Broadcast Team
Retired Seahawks great Michael Bennett, fresh off a week of unofficial coaching, joined former teammate Michael Robinson and play-by-play analyst Kate Scott in the booth for a national broadcast of Thursday night’s 24-13 Seahawks victory over the Minnesota Vikings. Bennett and Robinson shared in-depth thoughts about current Seahawks players, dished good-natured dirt about their Legion of Boom comrades and bickered about the best way to prevent quarterbacks from getting touched. (Bennett suggested adding artificial intelligence to their jerseys). 

Here’s Bennett on second-year edge rusher Boye Mafe, who looked solid on Thursday:  "I told Mafe all week: 'You got two of them, use your hands … Your hands are too soft, they feel like butter. Slice your hands, get some blood in your hands.’” Bennett’s “coaching” is best interpreted metaphorically, but he’s not your typical rah-rah hometown color commentator.

The Seahawks broadcast was so much fun that it angered the preseason boredom demons: The feed glitched out late in the first quarter, forcing NFL Network/NFL Plus to switch to Vikings broadcasters Paul Allen and Pete Bercich. It was like listening to a pair of enthusiastic experts sharing insider secrets over vodka-and-Red Bull for a half hour, then suddenly changing channels to the pre-dawn Duluth farm report.

5. Jordan Addison, Wide Receiver, Minnesota Vikings
Addison caught an underthrown 22-yard pass and had a nifty toe-drag reception along the sideline ruled incomplete. (Bennett and Robinson thought it was a catch. You will probably agree): 

The Vikings need Addison to be an immediate starter, so his route-running and overall NFL-readiness is encouraging.

4. Nathaniel “Tank” Dell, Wide Receiver, Houston Texans
Third-round rookie Dell was the Texans’ lone bright spot on a night when second-overall pick C.J. Stroud spent his two short offensive series running for dear life. Dell, a 165-pound junebug, caught five passes for 65 yards and one juggling touchdown, and he consistently got open against Patriots regulars like cornerback Jack Jones. Even Stroud’s telegraphed interception by Jalen Mills was a highlight for Dell:

The Texans are counting on tiny/shifty Dell to be a YAC-producer in their new 49ers-flavored offense. 

3. Emanuel Wilson, Running Back, Green Bay Packers
Wilson, an undrafted rookie from Fort Valley State, rushed six times for 111 yards and two touchdowns, one of them an 80-yarder, in the second half of the Packers’ 36-19 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. 

Wilson’s father passed away 14 years to the day before his Friday NFL debut. “Throughout the whole week, I was really like, ‘Dang, I’m really playing on the day my dad died.’” Wilson said after the game, per Wes Hodkiewicz of the Packers website. “It’s also a blessing to go out there and do what I need to do.”

Hodkiewicz reports that Packers starting running back Aaron Jones pulled Wilson aside after his first score. “I told him right after his first TD, that’s for your pops,” Jones said. “He’s right out here with you and he has the best seat in the house.”

2. Sam Howell, Quarterback, Washington Commanders 
The Sam Howell experiment might actually work. The second-year quarterback went 9-of-12 for 77 yards and a well-thrown touchdown pass to Jahan Dotson. One of Howell’s best throws was dropped, and then negated by a holding penalty. Howell also rushed once for eight yards, extended a fourth-down conversion attempt with his legs before connecting with Cole Turner, and looked comfortable dinking and dunking underneath. 

There’s work to be done (indecision while getting pressured in the end zone contributed to a holding-penalty safety), but Howell displayed the potential to be at least as effective as Carson Wentz and Taylor Heinicke, but with more upside and a much lower cap hit.

1. Trevis Gipson, Defensive End, Chicago Bears
Gipson recorded seven sacks as a rotating edge rusher in 2021 but had trouble adjusting to a more conventional every-down defensive end role last year. The Bears listed Gipson fourth on their training camp depth chart last week, which was a not-so-subtle message that he might not make the roster. Gibson responded with five total tackles, one sack and three hits on the quarterback in lots and lots of action on Saturday.

The moral of the story: preseason football is meaningless … unless you are fighting for your job. 

Honorable Mentions include Vikings rookie linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. (all over the field); Patriots defensive end Keion White (constant pressure); Jets edge rusher Will McDonald (one sack, two quarterback hits); Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers (drew two defensive contact penalties); Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter (a handful of disruptive snaps); Steelers defenders Nick Herbig and Keenu Benton (Wisconsin teammates who wreaked havoc on the Buccaneers, though Benton suffered a minor injury); and Joe Burrow, who jogged around on his injured ankle and lobbed some passes before the Bengals’ preseason game, calming fears that overprotective teammate Ja’Marr Chase would lock him in his bedroom until Halloween. 

Preseason Week 1 Losers

We already covered Russell Wilson, so let’s take him off the list. And we’re not here to rip anyone too hard over a handful of glorified practice snaps. But we call them as we see them.

5. Anthony Richardson, Quarterback, Indianapolis Colts
Richardson, the fourth pick in April’s draft, is about as raw as ceviche, and it showed in Saturday’s 23-19 Colts loss to the Bills.

Richardson’s best throw was a deep floater near the front pylon that Alex Pierce could not quite catch through the ground. His worst throw was a shaky side-armed blunder intercepted by Dane Jackson. On the spectrum in between were a few ribcrackers aimed at a spot six feet over Michael Pitman’s head and a seven-yard zone-read rumble negated by a holding penalty, plus some solid-if-routine throws underneath. 

The 21-year old Richardson could use a little more time for the paint to dry. But backup Gardner Minshew got clobbered until the Bills cleared the back of their bench. So brace for an extra-bumpy ride in Indy this year.

4-3. Vellus Jones, Receiver/Returner, Chicago Bears; James Proche, receiver/returner, Baltimore Ravens
Jones, a third-round pick in 2022, lost his punt return job and his role in the Bears offense last year because of fumbles/bobbles/bumbles. He tried to field a punt off a high bounce as defenders converged on him on Saturday, an inexcusable mistake that led to a turnover. Jones, who has no guarantees of making the upgraded Bears roster, gave way to rookie Tyler Scott on punt returns for the rest of the game.

Proche, a longtime Ravens backup who is also fighting for a spot on an upgraded receiving corps, had the ball swatted from his hands at his own 13-yard line on a punt return.

2. Jameson Williams, Wide Receiver, Detroit Lions
Williams caught just 2-of-7 targets for 18 yards, with a very catchable over-the-shoulder deep ball sailing through his hands. Williams, who spent most of his rookie season recovering from a collegiate ACL tear, and who will be suspended for the first six games of the season for violating the NFL’s gambling policy, has also been plagued by drops throughout the offseason. 

Dan Campbell, who criticized Williams’ hands earlier in the summer, downplayed any concerns about Williams after Friday night’s effort. “I’m not worried,” Campbell said. “I didn’t go into this game saying Jameson needs to have 10 catches and 180 yards … I just want: get lined up, urgency, route definition, detail, finish. And I thought for the most part he did that.” 

Williams is too talented — and was drafted too high — to not get upteen chances in Detroit. But steam is really starting to pour from Campbell’s ears when he talks about Williams.

1. The Los Angeles Rams
The Rams rested their starters — all three of them — in Saturday night’s 34-17 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. 

O.K., the Rams have more than three starters. But when Aaron Donald, Cooper Kupp, Matthew Stafford and a handful of others are not on the field these days, it’s hard to tell a Rams starter from some dude who showed up for an open tryout. Many of the non-household names running around the field during the first quarter on Saturday are slated for major roles in the regular season.

Sean McVay needs some youngsters to step up, and no one really did. The team’s first three offensive series lasted five, three and three plays for a total of 22 net yards. The Chargers, meanwhile, embarked on two 13-play field-goal drives with Easton Stick at the helm. The Rams pass rush could not get any pressure until Bryce Young finally got to Stick midway through the second quarter … and yanked the quarterback’s facemask for a penalty. 

Stetson Bennett finally replaced ineffective/uninteresting Brett Rypien in the second half and led a 16-play touchdown drive that was impressive if you ignore Bennett’s three near-interceptions.

The Rams had a few bright spots: three catches and a touchdown by fifth-round pick Puka Nucua, some late-game silly-time sacks by practice-squader Keir Thomas. But their first-quarter preseason talent looks like fourth-quarter preseason talent, and even adding Donald, Kupp and Stafford will only help so much.

Honorable Mention: Lots of kickers had rough outings this weekend, but Packers sixth-round pick Anders Carlson missed back-to-back extra points in the second half. Fortunately, it looks like Mason Crosby is staying sharp, even on the high seas. 

Scrambling Fourth-Quarter Quarterbacks: A Field Guide

The best thing about preseason NFL football …

You know what? Let’s start that sentence over again.

The least excruciatingly mind-numbing thing about preseason NFL football is watching some unheralded young scrambler wander onto the field in the fourth quarter and suddenly look like a member of the Justice League. Local fans inevitably fall head-over-heels for the speedy, scrappy underdog, whose Lamar Jackson impersonation was only made possible by the fact that, in the fourth quarter, preseason games become parking-lot pickup games full of future realtors, gym teachers and Toronto Argonauts. 

Most August Avengers are forgotten by Week 2, except by aggrieved talk-radio callers who will no-doubt demand to see Holton Ahlers after every Geno Smith incompletion. But let’s pause a moment to celebrate the scramblin’ randos who provided a welcome respite from watching Trevor Siemien and C.J. Beathard this weekend.

Malik Cunningham, Patriots
Cunningham, a diminutive speedster from Louisville, played a few snaps at wide receiver before taking over at quarterback and delivering some ankle-breaking highlights against the Texans’ fourth-string defense. That was just too much stimulation for Patriots fans, who desperately need a reason to believe their team is still led by innovative geniuses (who just discovered the concept of Taysom Hill) and spent last year watching Mac Jones escape the pocket like he was running the last 100 meters of his first 5K. As a result, “MalikMania” briefly swept across the social networks on Thursday evening, and the Patriots faithful went to bed dreaming of exciting uses for their new all-purpose superweapon.

Cunningham has a bright immediate future in Foxborough as scout-team Jalen Hurts.

Holton Ahlers, Seahawks
Speaking of “mania,” Ahlers is a burly southpaw who racked up some fourth-quarter rushing yardage on quarterback draws on Thursday night. Remind you of anyone? Perhaps his throwing style and outrageous good fortune will jog your repressed Tim Tebow memories:

Ahlers was a productive, entertaining starter at East Carolina for four years. Leagues like the XFL and USFL could use a dozen of him. But it doesn’t look like the Seahawks even flipped the direction of their rollouts to accommodate him, which is not a good sign.

Nathan Rourke, Jaguars
Are you ready for the Canadian Josh Allen? Pitter-patter, let’s get at ‘er:

Rourke hails from British Columbia and started for the CFL’s B.C. Lions in 2022. So he’s not really a rookie. And Ben Banogu and Chauncy Golston, two of the defenders who fail to drag Rourke down, will never be mistaken for Micah Parsons and Tank Lawrence. Still, it’s fun to imagine that Doug Pederson just happened to find another Ben Roethlisberger taking orders at a local Tim Horton’s, and it’s not foolish to imagine that the CFL’s reigning Most Outstanding Canadian (the coveted Bieber Trophy) could win a job as Trevor Lawrence’s backup. 

Urban Meyer would have made Rourke his starting quarterback. Or maybe tight end. 

Adrian Martinez, Detroit Lions
Martinez, an undrafted rookie from Kansas State (by way of Nebraska, where he was an on-and-off starter for four years before transferring), led a couple of wild-and-wooly fourth-quarter series for the Lions. He scored a touchdown on a sneak, but his most successful play was a roughing-the-passer penalty. Martinez has a shot in Detroit if anything happens to Jared Goff, Teddy Bridgewater, Hendon Hooker and Nate Sudfeld. 

Come to think of it, if something happened to all of those quarterbacks, Dan Campbell would probably call someone like Philip Rivers.

Ian Book, Philadelphia Eagles
Some fourth-quarter scramblers shine. But a few do this:

Book, a star at Notre Dame, is a third-year pro who started a COVID-impacted 2021 game for the Saints, throwing two interceptions and suffering eight sacks in a loss to the Dolphins. He’s fighting for the third-string quarterback role for the Eagles. At least, he was fighting for that role. 

Sam Ehlinger, Indianapolis Colts
Ehlinger is the Rembrandt of preseason chaos artists, and he painted another masterpiece on Saturday: some ultra-determined efforts as a rusher; a 30-yard catch and run to Malik Turner, who ripped through the arm tackles of several future St. Louis Battlehawks; and a pass interference penalty to set up a final touchdown. Ehlinger finished 8-of-9 for 79 yards with two rushes for 10 yards.

Ehlinger threw four touchdown passes and rushed for one score in the 2022 preseason. He was so impressive that he got a few starts when Matt Ryan disintegrated and the Colts franchise briefly descended into The Purge mode. Ehlinger was shaky in his first start, and suffered nine sacks, prompting the team to reanimate Zombie Ryan for a few more weeks.

And that’s why you should never fall in love with a scrambler who looks good in the fourth quarter of a preseason game.