Could Trey Lance Be Taysom Hill?

FRISCO - Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy swears that Trey Lance has a "long-time future'' in the NFL. Team owner Jerry Jones swears he has "no regrets'' about trading a fourth-round pick to acquire Lance .

And Lance himself swears that while he performance in Saturday's preseason finale - a loss to the Chargers - "sucks,'' his "confidence'' is unshaken.

But there is a harsh truth to be faced, no matter all the swearing. After almost three full preseason games, it's clear that Lance is not ready to win as an NFL QB. He is definitely not the Cowboys' No. 2 quarterback of the present; there is no way they'd put him in a real game ahead of Cooper Rush.

And there is no way to envision him as the No. 1 quarterback of their future, a blurry picture as it is given Dak Prescott's lame-duck contract situation.

As our Richie Whitt writes: "Once again, Lance just wasn't accurate with his passes or savvy with his reads. He missed wide-open receivers with overthrows. He put the ball on the back hip of receivers running crossing routes, forcing them to significantly throttle down. And he complicated matters with poor decisions, throwing two interceptions with late deliveries to dangerous locations - including one pick in the end zone in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter he threw a Pick 6 to a linebacker he appeared to have never seen.''

There were moments. Lance lofted a nice fade route for a score and another perfect pass was dropped in the end zone by receiver Deontay Burnett. And there was a signature play: a 46-yard touchdown sprint on a run-pass-option that helped him roll up 413 total yards of offense.

But five interceptions? Really?

Related: Trey Lance = Cinco Interceptions: Top 10 Cowboys-Chargers Observations

The Cowboys - especially Jerry - would have loved Lance to win the backup job from Rush. That's not happening any time soon. But maybe he can still help. Again, Whitt ...

"Lance is a much better NFL running back than he is an NFL quarterback. Him in the shotgun is like the Wildcat, but not by design. Can the Cowboys draw up a specific package of plays to cater to Lance's elite athleticism? He can't be trusted with Red Zone passes, but his legs are a unique asset. He's Taysom Hill, with more wiggle and less physicality.''

Let's think about something else Jones said: “I saw some things out there that you can win with.”

Really? Like ... what?

Taysom Hill is the Saints' QB/RB/FB/TE/WR. Is this viable? Do the Cowboys jump Lance from being the "emergency third QB'' to actually making him active every week? It's a wild idea, we say.

But right now, no matter what McCarthy, Jerry and Lance themselves say? It's an even more wild idea to think he should be playing quarterback.