Trevor Lawrence made Clemson history on April 29, 2021, becoming the first player in Clemson history to be selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Of course, the Jacksonville Jaguars took Lawrence with the first overall pick that night, making him the third No. 1 overall pick across all sports in Clemson Athletics history — joining baseball’s Kris Benson (1996) and men’s soccer’s Robbie Robinson (2020).
If the 2021 NFL Draft was done all over again, would the Jaguars still take Lawrence with the first selection?
Pro Football Focus thinks so, despite the struggles Lawrence endured as a rookie last season, when he completed 59.6 percent of his passes for 3,641 yards and 12 touchdowns with 17 interceptions.
PFF recently did a redraft of the 2021 NFL Draft and still has Lawrence going No. 1 overall to the Jags.
“I’m not going to argue that Lawrence had a spectacular, or even a good, rookie season, but we know that the situation around him in Jacksonville was a dumpster fire,” PFF’s Sam Monson wrote. “Urban Meyer’s tenure didn’t last the season and ended in a lawsuit. The supporting cast was far from a strength, and Lawrence was one of the highest-rated prospects to enter the league in years. Jacksonville needed a quarterback, and there’s probably still none they’d rather have based on a year of evidence.”
While Lawrence stayed the same in PFF’s redraft, PFF has the Jaguars going a different route with their other first-round pick in last year’s draft. The Jags took former Clemson running back Travis Etienne with the 25th overall pick, but PFF’s redraft has them instead going with former Southern Cal (and current Detroit Lions) wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown with that pick.
–Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Dear Old Clemson’s first event is July 24. Now there is a new way to support Clemson student athletes. Come out and meet the freshmen football players at this meet and greet autograph session. If you sign up for certain club levels you get free access to all Dear Old Clemson events. Purchase your tickets today at Dear Old Clemson.
