What We Learned From Bryce Lance’s Saints Debut

Bryce Lance won't ever forget his NFL debut, for reasons both good and bad.

Of course, just the chance to suit up for the New Orleans Saints and be on the field in a regular season NFL game has to be a special memory that will last a long time.

But on the flip side, it was Lance who watched the game-deciding 2-point conversion pass from Tyler Shough fly over his head and out of the end zone. There was nothing Lance could've done — the ball was thrown too far and too high — but he was the closest to it. It was he who had the up-close view to a heartbreaking Saints loss.

In football parlance, though, it's already on to next week. The Saints have more games to play. Lance has more positive impressions to make.

He already did plenty to impress in Week 1, though, and it's worth taking a deeper look at it.

Lance ended up putting together a very solid stat line of three catches for 42 yards in his NFL debut.

He played the third-most snaps among Saints receivers behind Chris Olave and Devaughn Vele , who both had big games.

Lance was targeted four times by Shough and brought in three of those, including a long gain of 19 yards.

As a fourth-round pick out of North Dakota State, Lance wasn't viewed as an entirely sure thing. Some folks liked him more than others in the draft process, but at 6-foot-3 with solid athleticism, Lance certainly looks the part.

He probably didn't get positive vibes in the pre-draft analysis world from the fact that his brother Trey was a draft bust for the 49ers , either.

That's not Bryce's burden to bear, though, and he looked comfortable on the NFL stage on Sunday.

Lance's longest game came on his first career catch, which came in a highly encouraging moment for the rookie.

The Saints were in the two-minute drill just before halftime, which is a situation that young players have to get comfortable in.

Lance burst off the line and appeared to correctly recognize that the Lions were in a zone defense, so he settled right into an opening between four spread out defenders each in their own zone.

Shough clearly saw the same opening Lance did, and they were on the same page to complete the connection:

That's just a lot of positive instincts for Lance in a singular moment in his NFL debut.

Lance also had a crucial 15-yard catch on fourth-and-12 as the Saints put together the game-tying drive in the fourth quarter, and it required some seriously strong hands through contact:

With Olave and Vele around, and the eventual return of first-rounder Jordyn Tyson from injury, Lance won't always be a huge contributor.

But he's already shown that when called upon, he can deliver. That's quite the message to send in an NFL debut.

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