Dan Orlovsky knows a thing or two about quarterbacks.
As a former fifth-round pick in the 2005 Draft, Orlovsky lasted 12 years in the NFL, playing for the Detroit Lions, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Now, he spends his days as a college football and NFL analyst for ESPN.
On Monday morning’s edition of NFL Live, the host — Laura Rutledge — and panelists — Orlovsky, Marcus Spears and Matt Miller — were discussing the possibility of the New England Patriots drafting North Dakota State quarterback Trey Lance in the first round.
Rutledge asked Orlovsky, “What’s the most important thing they (the Patriots) need to evaluate about him (Lance) before they draft him?”
Here is Orlovsky’s response.
This is mandatory for #NFL teams and it’s not done/focused on enough! @ESPNNFL
This WILL NEED TO BE FIXED for @treylance09 in the league! pic.twitter.com/UQJfolud4k
— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) March 22, 2021
Orlovsky highlighted Lance’s top-of-the-drop-mechanics simply will “not work” in the NFL. According to Orlovsky, the drop he demonstrated in college “slows you down with timing, rhythm, your eyes, anticipation, it screws with your accuracy.”
Orlovksy then brought up a former first-round quarterback who was plagued by the same problems.
“You know whose fatal flaw that was as well?” Orlovksy asked. “Mitchell Trubisky. And he never got it fixed.”
The Bears moved up in the 2017 NFL Draft to select Trubisky with the No. 2 overall pick. However, Trubisky’s overall inconsistent play, featuring the inability to properly read defenses, bad mechanics and inaccurate passes led him to lasting just four seasons in Chicago.
Regardless of the coaching staff in place, none were able to fix Trubisky’s bad tendencies.
If the Bears move up in this year’s draft and select Lance, why would anyone feel confident this coaching staff can fix Lance’s “fatal flaw?”
This cause for concern is mostly reflective on the Bears and not on Lance — arguably the most physically gifted quarterback in the draft.
But Lance’s inexperience at North Dakota State (just 318 passing attempts in his career) and how the Bears handled Trubisky can’t go unnoticed.
To pull back a bit, though, Quincy Avery — a renowned QB coach who has worked with Deshaun Watson, Jalen Hurts and many others — gave his insight on what he saw from Lance’s pro day.
I agree with Dan. I also think Trey demonstrated in his pro day he fixed this. It's relatively easy fix when you keep your break step consistent in rhythm & off the hitch. https://t.co/PQ9AHofa6K
— Quincy Avery (@QuincyAvery) March 22, 2021
Bears coach Matt Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace attended North Dakota State’s pro day on March 12. There could be real interest in Lance or this could be another one of Chicago’s smokescreens that the organization loves to utilize to potentially hide who they are really targeting.
Still, if the Bears end up drafting Lance, this organization has proven it can’t develop players and this fatal flaw could be the team’s downfall once again.