National Football League

Colin Cowherd offers early preseason evaluations on high-profile NFL players

Updated Aug. 18, 2021 5:39 p.m. ET

The shortened preseason ⁠— three games instead of four ⁠— condenses the time frame in which to evaluate players before the real action begins in Week 1.

Players will have limited time to make an impression, especially those of a higher profile, such as the crop of rookie quarterbacks selected in this year's NFL Draft.

Following the first full week of preseason action, Colin Cowherd of "The Herd" put on his evaluation hat and offered his thoughts on some of the most intriguing debuts from the slate of games.

"Do I think they were better than I thought, pretty much what I thought or a little less than I thought?" Cowherd asked.

Here are the directions — up, down or sideways — Cowherd saw a handful of big names trending after watching them in the preseason.

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Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars

Debut stats: 6-for-9 for 71 yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs, 90.5 QBR in 23-13 loss vs. Cleveland Browns

Trending: Sideways

Cowherd's explanation: "He's the hardest guy to evaluate because his team is bad. ... He looks the part, but it's hard to evaluate because I think they only have one starter that would start for Cleveland."

Zach Wilson, New York Jets

Debut stats: 6-for-9 for 63 yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs, 86.8 QBR in 12-7 win vs. New York Giants

Trending: Sideways

Cowherd's explanation: "I knew he could move, and I knew he had a lively arm, so that. ... Now, the Giants played backups. So you've got the Jets playing some of their starters, [and] the Giants' defense was backups. A little context here. ... Gimme another start against another team."

Trey Lance, San Francisco 49ers

Debut stats: 5-for-14 for 128 yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs, 93.8 QBR in 19-16 loss vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Trending: Down

Cowherd's explanation: "Down a little bit. All we heard about was how great he was in practice, and in the end, he could've had a couple of balls intercepted. ... I'm not doubting the talent. He just needs a lot of reps. Last 580 days, he's completed 20 passes. ... Maybe my 'down' should be 'slow down.'"

Justin Fields, Chicago Bears

Debut stats: 14-for-20 for 142 yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs, 33 rushing yards, 1 rushing TD, 106.7 QBR in 20-13 win vs. Miami Dolphins

Trending: Up

Cowherd's explanation: "He's not working with much here. ... This is not a good offensive line. He's got one star receiver. ... He also, right now, is in the space where he's gonna move a lot because he doesn't trust his protection. ... He throws such a nice ball, and he's so athletic, and he's very poised."

Mac Jones, New England Patriots

Debut stats: 13-for-19 for 87 yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs, 78.2 QBR in 22-13 win vs. Washington Football Team

Trending: Up

Cowherd's explanation: "For what they're asking him to do, he did a great job. ... They're not going to ask him to throw a lot of deep balls. Why? They don't have a lot of deep threats. So I think he ran the offense efficiently."

Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers

Debut stats: 12-for-17 for 122 yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs, 110.4 QBR in 26-7 loss vs. Houston Texans

Trending: Up

Cowherd's explanation: "He had a lot of drives where he was three-and-out, but in the end, I like how he drives the ball. He wasn't afraid to throw the ball right down the middle of the field, which can be a more dangerous place. ... He's Bigfoot ⁠— I've never seen any footage ⁠— so I had nothing to base it on, but he was better than I thought he would look."

Tim Tebow, Jacksonville Jaguars

(Editor's note: Tebow has since been cut by the Jaguars, a move that came after Cowherd gave his evaluation.)

Debut stats: 16 snaps, 0 catches in 23-13 loss vs. Browns

Trending: Down

Cowherd's explanation: "He can't block, and he's a blocking tight end. He didn't play a single play on special teams. ... He's not a vertical tight end. He's not gonna get open. That's not what he's gonna be."

Check out the video below for Cowherd's full breakdown: