National Football League

Colin Cowherd predicts when Lawrence, Wilson, Lance, Fields and Jones will taste victory

Updated May. 20, 2021 6:24 p.m. ET

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The 2021 NFL season is full steam ahead and all eyes are on the five first-round quarterbacks. 

On Wednesday’s "The Herd," Colin Cowherd made it his duty to predict when each of those five top-flight rookie QBs will get their first start and first win in the 2021 NFL season.

Let’s dive into Cowherd’s predictions:

Quarterback: Trevor Lawrence

Team: Jacksonville Jaguars
Draft position: No. 1 
QB Competition: Gardner Minshew

Colin's thoughts: "His first start is Week 1, and his first win is Week 1. Urban Meyer and Trevor Lawrence go 1-0. 

"First of all, [the] worst rushing defense in the NFL last year was Houston. Translation, [Lawrence] isn’t going to have to throw 40 times. They have an excellent running back tandem now in Jacksonville. Their offensive line is not terrible. Urban has been able to run the football from Bowling Green to Utah to Florida to Ohio State. Jacksonville’s running attack will be good, so I think they control the line of scrimmage. … J.J. Watt’s gone, that’s good for Trevor Lawrence. Big part of the pass rush is gone, so this is a weak defense … Urban and Trevor are 1-0 to start their careers."

Quarterback: Zach Wilson

Team: New York Jets
Draft position: No. 2
QB Competition: James Morgan and Mike White

Colin's thoughts: "Start, Week 1. I’m gonna say their first win is Week 5 against Atlanta. They start 0-4. I mean, c’mon. Robert Saleh going up against Belichick [and] Vrabel? I don’t think they can win Week 1 on the road against Carolina. … Denver doesn’t lose at home in September because of the high altitude, and the other thing is, Atlanta [is] the first time you get a rookie head coach for the Jets and the opponent, Arthur Smith. … The Jets will be more desperate, so I go they beat Atlanta in London."

Quarterback: Trey Lance

Team: San Francisco 49ers
Draft position: No. 3
QB Competition: Jimmy Garoppolo

Colin's thoughts: "I think Trey Lance is gonna be in some of the playbook Week 1. You don’t move up [to the] No. 3 pick unless you feel you’ve got a dynamic difference-maker, and [with] this kind of offensive line and running game, you could win early. Trey Lance or Mac Jones both would’ve won early. 

"I’m gonna go, [Lance] starts Week 8 at Chicago and wins Week 8 at Chicago. I think you’re looking [at a] Super Bowl roster. … This is gonna be a run-centric offense where Trey Lance will not have to go to Chicago and throw 45 times. Also, Jimmy G has missed 23 games in his career due to injury, so I’m not saying he is better than Garoppolo at this point. What I’m saying is, I’m rolling the dice on Jimmy G has a little tweak, they don’t want to push it, they’ve already been playing Trey Lance a little, and they go fo it."

Quarterback: Justin Fields 

Team: Chicago Bears
Draft position: No. 11
QB Competition: Andy Dalton

Colin's thoughts: "This is the hardest one for me. Week 1, he’s gonna start. Andy Dalton, the last three years, 11-22. Matt Nagy and Ryan Pace gotta win games, and I also think Justin Fields does physically what Andy Dalton can’t, and it’s gonna pop in camp, it’s gonna pop in preseason. Justin Fields played a lot of college games. He’s ready to play. When you come out of Ohio State and you’ve played 30 games, you’re ready to play in the NFL. … but I cannot have them beating the Rams in LA or the Browns in Cleveland. 

"Now, they get Cincinnati at home [in] Week 2 and Matt Nagy’s been a tremendous September coach, but I’m gonna give the Bengals a close win there. I think they win Week 4, the Detroit Lions at home, on FOX, and then it’ll be ‘LFG, we’ve got ourselves a star quarterback. Let’s go’."

Quarterback: Mac Jones

Team: New England Patriots
Draft position: No. 15
QB Competition: Cam Newton, Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer

Colin's thoughts: "Never starts. Never wins. Cam Newton is gonna start the season. Here’s my theory. … Does everybody know Cam Newton led the NFL with 12 rushing touchdowns at quarterback? Cam Newton was 7-8 [with] no camp, no OTA, no preseason, [and] got COVID. Cam’s gonna come back and they’re gonna win 10 games. Belichick does not wanna not make the playoffs again. The experimenting is adorable, but he watched Brady win a Super Bowl. Bill wants to win games. 

"By the way, Buffalo and Miami, those are real teams now. Not gonna experiment with Mac Jones in Week 7. … Buffalo is a top-three team in the league. Miami won 10 games with Tua as a rookie, and they’re no question better, and I think the Jets will at least be dangerous, so I think Cam plays the whole year. … I think New England is a Wild Card playoff team."

Check out the full video below: 

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National Football League

Trevor Lawrence

Jacksonville Jaguars

Zach Wilson

New York Jets

Trey Lance

San Francisco 49ers

Justin Fields

Chicago Bears

Mac Jones

New England Patriots

Gardner Minshew II

Andy Dalton

Houston Texans

Ohio State Buckeyes

J.J. Watt

Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers

Denver Broncos

Jimmy Garoppolo

Trey Sermon

Cam Newton

Los Angeles Rams

Cleveland Browns

Cincinnati Bengals

Detroit Lions

Buffalo Bills

Miami Dolphins

Colin Cowherd

The Herd with Colin Cowherd