Cowboys Reveal Plan for ‘Unproven’ Trey Lance Entering 2024

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The Cowboys have a preseason plan for QB Trey Lance.

The Dallas Cowboys have a plan for Trey Lance entering the 2024 season.

The former No. 3 overall draft pick was acquired in a notable trade from the San Francisco 49ers just prior to the conclusion of the preseason last year. The Cowboys acquired Lance in exchange for a fourth-round draft pick. However, he spent the entire season as the third-string quarterback behind Dak Prescott and Cooper Rush and didn’t see any game action during the 2024 season.

However, offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer is stressing that Lance will sees tons of reps entering the season, including OTAs, mini camp and training camp, via Clarence Hill of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

“It’s gonna be all about getting him a ton of reps throughout OTAs, mini camp and then training camp,” says Schottenheimer. “You’re gonna see him getting a ton right leading into the preseason.”

Trey Lance Has Yet to See Playing Time as Member of Cowboys

The 24-year-old Lance has seen very little playing time since entering the NFL in 2021 as a top draft pick. Part of that is due to injuries, but part of it is also due to being unable to move up the depth chart.

During his three seasons in the NFL, Lance has seen action in just eight games and has started just four games. During those appearances, he’s gone 2-2 as a starter and has five touchdowns against three interceptions for an 84.5 passer rating. He also has the ability to run the football, racking up 235 yards and a touchdown during those appearances.

The passing numbers aren’t bad, but they’re not great. It also doesn’t help that Lance hasn’t appeared in a game since Week 2 of the 2022 season before he suffered a season-ending ankle injury. That marked the only time Lance was considered a starter in the NFL after entering the season first on the depth chart over Jimmy Garoppolo.

It also doesn’t help that Lance didn’t see many reps in practice during the 2023 season as a third-string quarterback.

That means by the time the 2024 season rolls around, it will have been nearly two full years since Lance — who started just one full season at an FCS program such as North Dakota State — has seen substantial reps.

“The guys obviously an unbelievable athlete but we need to get him the reps,” Schottenheimer stressed. “How do you learn to play the position of quarterback, unless you’re playing right.”

Trey Lance Considered a ‘Question Mark’ Entering His Fourth Season

Schottenheimer — who is also in his second season in Dallas — explains how Lance is a “question mark” due to the limited playing time and reps he’s seen during his career.

“We know Dak. We know Coop. He is the question mark,” Schottenheimer said. “There’s so much he doesn’t know that he’s got to figure out. And so that’s what’s exciting about that if he can be he can be a really good player because he’s wired the right way and the way he works. We just got to give them the opportunity to show us that with the year under his belt and being comfortable.”

With all three quarterbacks on the Cowboys’ roster entering the final year of their deals, Lance is auditioning not only for a spot on Dallas’ roster next season, but potentially another NFL team’s roster. When factoring in that Prescott could possibly be entering his final year as Cowboys starter, there may be an opening for the starting job next season for Lance.

However, he has to be able to prove he can be a viable starter in the NFL by actually seeing time on the field. It looks like Dallas has a game plan to finally give Lance that opportunity entering next season.

DJ Siddiqi covers the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He has covered the NFL and NBA for Forbes, ClutchPoints, CBS Sports, 24/7 Sports and Bleacher Report before joining Heavy. More about DJ Siddiqi