Trevor Lawrence has so much talent at the quarterback position that if freshmen were able to enter the NFL draft, Lawrence likely would have been the No. 1 overall pick in 2019, when he had just led Clemson to a national championship as a true freshman. Instead, Lawrence stayed at Clemson for three years and was the top pick in 2021, considered a safe quarterback.
In sixth grade, Lawrence finally looks like everything he was supposed to be.
Lawrence is having by far the best year of his NFL career, with career-high stats across the board that are only limited by the fact that Jaguars win so many blowouts that Lawrence doesn’t throw many passes in the fourth quarter.
So far this season, Lawrence has completed 146 of 224 passes for 1,932 yards, with 18 touchdowns, four interceptions and an NFL-best passer rating of 111.7. Project Lawrence has a 17-game season total, and he’s on pace to finish with 4,106 yards, 38 touchdowns and nine interceptions. These are MVP numbers.
Lawrence’s rookie year was a disaster, as he led the league in interceptions while playing on a chaotic Jaguars team coached by Urban Meyer, whose only foray into NFL coaching lasted less than a season. Lawrence and the Jaguars improved a lot once they kicked Meyer to the curb, but even over the next three years with Doug Pederson, an offensive coach with a Super Bowl-winning pedigree, Lawrence failed to live up to the pre-draft hype.
Playing in Liam Coen’s offense, something changed. Last year, the Jaguars went 13-4, winning games by double digits for the first time since Lawrence was drafted, and this year, Lawrence and the Jaguars are even better. Lawrence’s average of 8.6 yards per pass is a career best by nearly a yard and a half, a remarkable improvement for any quarterback in his sixth season to achieve.
Lawrence threw touchdown passes on 8 percent of his attempts, the best in the NFL this season and by far the best mark of his career. And after being sacked a career-high 41 times last year, Lawrence became much more comfortable reading passes during his second year in the Coen’s offense and has only been sacked 13 times this season.
Lawrence’s numbers would be even better if the Jaguars didn’t give up so often late in games because they’re eliminating opponents. Lawrence has 1,196 yards and 12 touchdowns in the first halves of games this season, but he only has 736 yards and six touchdowns in the second halves of games.
The Jaguars currently have the fourth-best chance to win the Super Bowl, and Lawrence has the fifth-best chance to win the MVP award. This might underestimate them and him. The Jaguars may be the best team, with the best quarterback, in the NFL right now.
Gn sports
