Penn State football: Ravens’ Trace McSorley improves but ‘isn’t ready yet’

For the first time in his NFL career, former Penn State football quarterback Trace McSorley threw a touchdown pass.

Last week, a good majority of Penn State football fans did something they typically wouldn’t do. They tuned into a Baltimore Ravens preseason game. Preseason football usually isn’t must-see television for NFL fans, but it can be if a favorite college player of yours is debuting.

Former Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley appeared in an NFL game for the first time last Thursday. And no, the multi-talented athlete wasn’t running routes as a wideout. He was getting an opportunity to play his actual position at quarterback.

As expected, McSorley performed as most rookies do. He had a rough night by completing only nine of his 22 attempted passes. Unfortunately, McSorley failed to throw his first touchdown at the professional level and even turned the ball over with an interception.

To put it lightly, McSorley didn’t make an excellent case for himself to win the backup quarterback position during week one — but since he’s a rookie, he’s got plenty of room for improvement. So for the second week, it became a goal of McSorley’s to have a better outing.

Once again, McSorley showed he is indeed a rookie with another brutal interception — but he set Happy Valley on fire when he threw his first NFL touchdown. It was a quick pass across the middle to his wideout, Chris Moore. While it wasn’t a deep ball, McSorley absolutely threaded the needle throwing a bullet through traffic while under pressure from the blitzing defense.

McSorley’s first score

Penn State was proud, as social media exploded once the Ravens reached the endzone on one of his passes. While Happy Valley lived up to their name as McSorley notched his first score, Baltimore Ravens’ writers and analysts weren’t nearly as impressed.

Sure, everybody was proud to see the rookie hit a milestone, but his progress through two weeks could use some work. According to Ravens Wire’s Chuck Mills, McSorley “isn’t ready yet.” While they don’t need him to start over Lamar Jackson for obvious reasons, it doesn’t seem like the Lions quarterback offers more value than Robert Griffin right now.

“A first-team defense in a real game would take advantage of McSorley’s tendencies, and his numbers would be a lot worse than the ones he’s put up in the preseason,” Mills wrote. “It only strengthens the notion McSorley is going to have to make the 53-man roster because of his versatility on special teams and potentially defense.”

As Mills points out, McSorley’s dual-threat abilities are the only factors keeping him in the conversation of making the final roster through two weeks of the preseason. He hasn’t been as mobile — rather the Ravens want to see what he offers as a true passer. So far, he’s been slightly underwhelming in that department. We’ll see if the narrative changes these next two weeks.