In a Houston Texans trade of Deshaun Watson it would be almost a guarantee that the Texans would receive a Top 10 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. If that is the case, that most likely means a rookie quarterback would be joining the Texans.
With the potential Top 10 pick for the Texans in any trade of Watson, what if the quarterback Houston selected would be Trey Lance of North Dakota State? Is that something that would make fans of the Texans happy?
As of right now, the loss of Deshaun Watson is a little too much to overcome for most fans, but if thinking about the future, and with most likely some sort of trade coming, one must look ahead to a potential trade that would involve a Top 10 pick for this year, and other first round picks for future seasons.
When reading about Trey Lance and watching some of his highlights, the first thing that comes to the forefront about the North Dakota State quarterback is he’s a QB with a strong arm. He also has the athleticism to run with the football, which is a new normal for most NFL quarterbacks. Plus Lance’s accuracy is on point as well as he had no interceptions in 2019, which was his only full season at quarterback.
Coming from the same college as Carson Wentz, North Dakota State is becoming a training ground of sorts for quarterbacks who are under-the-radar, but have high NFL potential, and that’s the case for Lance.
Over at SI.com and their NFL Draft page, a scouting report on Lance says the following about the possible future Houston Texans quarterback, only if a trade were made that saw Watson leave the franchise:
"“Lance is the new-age dual-threat signal-caller that is all the rage. With a rifle for an arm and a high-powered pair of wheels in his lower half, he sits as one of the most talented quarterback prospects in the 2021 cycle.”"
Thinking about the Texans without Deshaun Watson is strange, but it seems like eventually it will become more of a reality. That said, when seeing the numbers of Trey Lance one has to be impressed, even if it wasn’t at the top level of collegiate football.
Plus the way Lance plays with his athleticism, that could help make things easier to take over for Watson, though it wouldn’t be fair to compare Lance to Waton that early into his career.
Houston Texans Draft: Trey Lance had impressive numbers in 2019
In 2019 Lance was 192-of-287 (66.9 percent), for 2,786 yards with 28 touchdowns and no interceptions. He also rushed for 1,100 yards on 169 rushes that season with 14 rushing touchdowns.
In one game during the 2020 season, Lance had 15 rushes for 143 yards and two touchdowns. Lance also in ’20 passed for 149 yards on 15 competitions, including two touchdown passes and one interception.
There is so much in drafting a quarterback in the first round, and the last time the Houston Texans did so it was drafting Deshaun Watson 12th overall in 2017. That pick worked out very well until this offseason, but the career of Watson thus far has been outstanding to say the least.
Now if looking at the potential future of Watson, the Houston Texans and Trey Lance, they all have the possibility to be connected with each other for many years to come, that is if the Texans trade their current franchise quarterback, then look to the draft to fill that vacated spot.
Some sort of decision will eventually come for the Texans and Watson, and when it does the franchise will be affected in a big way, and that could include Lance being the next quarterback of the Texans.