Category: Trevor Lawrence

Poll: Should the Jaguars trade Gardner Minshew?

Given interest around the league for the young quarterback, it may make sense for Jacksonville to try to make a deal involving Minshew.

It wasn’t just the mustache that thrust Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew into the national spotlight. Sure, his style, charisma and laid-back attitude played a large role in endearing him not just to the Jacksonville fanbase but also football fans at large. At the end of the day, though, Minshew Mania would have never taken off if it weren’t for his play early in his NFL career.

Jags fans weren’t even supposed to know much about Minshew. He was backing up Nick Foles, who the team had invested a four-year, $88 million contract into that offseason. But Foles got hurt in the season opener and Minshew stepped in. He started in 12 games in 2019, finishing with 3,271 yards, 21 touchdowns and six interceptions. Though he was just a sixth-round pick, the former Washington State quarterback showed enough to secure the starting job heading into 2020.

But things have changed now. Minshew wasn’t terrible last season but he battled injuries, and in the eight games he started, his yardage total decreased by more than 1,000 yards from a year ago. He threw 16 touchdowns with five interceptions on the year.

The Jaguars went 1-15, and now the team has the first overall pick, which will almost certainly be used to select a franchise quarterback in Trevor Lawrence. It seems Minshew no longer has a future with the team beyond a backup role, and considering he’s not even 25 yet, he may be looking for another opportunity.

The Jaguars seemed to cement this with the signing of former San Francisco 49ers backup C.J. Beathard, who saw a good amount of action in 2020 after Jimmy Garoppolo sustained an ankle injury. Though Minshew would certainly be among the better backup quarterbacks in the NFL, if there’s acceptable trade value for him (which is certainly a possibility), it would make a lot of sense for Jacksonville to try and deal him.

What do you think, Jags fans? Should the team try to trade Gardner Minshew? Or should it keep him on the roster for the time being as a backup/competition for Lawrence? Let us know in the poll down below.

(function(d,s,id,u){
if (d.getElementById(id)) return;
var js, sjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],
t = Math.floor(new Date().getTime() / 1000000);
js=d.createElement(s); js.id=id; js.async=1; js.src=u+’?’+t;
sjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, sjs);
}(document, ‘script’, ‘os-widget-jssdk’, ‘https://www.opinionstage.com/assets/loader.js’));

 

Pete Prisco says Jags will be one of the best AFC teams “for the next decade”

The CBS Sports analyst said that with Lawrence, he expects the Jaguars to be one of the AFC’s best teams for the next decade.

Given Jacksonville’s recent history, it isn’t surprising that the national media is skeptical of the Urban Meyer experiment, even with the team set to select Trevor Lawrence next month in the draft. However, CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco is not one of those people.

He said on Monday that with Lawrence coming in, the Jaguars should be one of the top teams in their conference for years to come.

“This team, because of that quarterback, will be one of the best teams in the AFC for the next decade. It’s simple. It’s really simple. Look at the Chiefs. Patrick Mahomes, you get the quarterback, you’re going to be one of the best teams for the next decade.”

It’s hard to argue with Prisco’s logic. Though the Chiefs had achieved much more relative success than Jacksonville before Mahomes became their starting quarterback, he flipped the switch that turned Kansas City from a playoff team to a real Super Bowl contender.

If Lawrence can have a similar effect on the team, it’s not unreasonable to think that the Jaguars could improve tremendously in the next couple of seasons. And though dynasty ambitions are probably premature for a team that hasn’t even made it official with Lawrence yet, Jacksonville fans will hope Prisco’s analysis (and belief in Lawrence) holds true.

Jags tied for most top-100 picks in the 2021 NFL draft

Jacksonville has made a number of high profile trades in recent years, and that has resulted in a lot of draft capital in 2021.

Jacksonville has had to trade away several talented players in recent years who could’ve been solid long-term pieces. Though that has certainly helped put the franchise in the hole it’s in now, at least it resulted in lots of draft capital as the team attempts to undergo a rebuild with a new general manager, head coach, and (likely) franchise quarterback.

Assuming the Jaguars invest the first overall pick in Trevor Lawrence, the next order of business will be building around him. They got a nice start in free agency, making several value signings that build up the team’s depth. But Jacksonville has 10 picks in this upcoming draft, and with its five picks in the top 100, it’s tied with the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets for the most in the draft.

https://twitter.com/FieldYates/status/1376507549445410818?s=20

In addition to the first pick, the Jags have another first-round pick at No. 25 by virtue of the Jalen Ramsey trade with Los Angeles. The Jaguars also have an extra second-round pick at No. 45 from the trade with the Minnesota Vikings involving Yannick Ngakoue.

Further, the team has two picks in the fourth round (also from the Ramsey trade) and in the fifth (from the Ronnie Harrison trade with Cleveland). The Jaguars initially had 11 picks in this draft, but they shopped their original seventh-round selection to the Saints for defensive tackle Malcom Brown, though they received a seventh from Tennessee in a rare divisional trade involving linebacker Kamalei Correa, who they later released.

The team may add another pick in this draft, as it’s rumored to be receiving interest for quarterback Gardner Minshew. Though Minshew will likely be on a different roster next season, it remains to be seen if that move will potentially occur before the draft. Coach Urban Meyer has said the team is not shopping Minshew “at this point.”

Urban Meyer says Jags heading in “the direction” of taking Trevor Lawrence

Selecting the former Clemson passer certainly wouldn’t be a surprise, but Jags coach Urban Meyer implied the team will do just that.

When it comes to the NFL Draft, teams don’t want to overplay their hand. But for those who’ve had the opportunity to possess the top selection, there is the luxury to avoid some of that secrecy. This was likely the rationale behind Jacksonville Jaguars coach Urban Meyer offering some rare candor about the team’s draft strategy.

Speaking to NBC Sports’ Peter King, Meyer provided some good news for Jacksonville fans eagerly hoping the team selects former Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence with the first pick.

“I’d have to say that’s the direction we’re going,” Meyer said about the prospect of drafting Lawrence. “I’ll leave that up to the owner when we make that decision official. But I’m certainly not stepping out of line that that’s certainly the direction we’re headed.”

Though the Jags taking Lawrence would be far from a surprise, Meyer seemed to confirm here that the team has no intentions of deviating from the plan. Even before this season, Lawrence was widely regarded as the best player in college, and it seems Meyer paid close attention to him during his time at the desk with Fox Sports. 

This year, Lawrence is considered to be the top quarterback in the class for the most part, though several scouts prefer BYU’s Zach Wilson. But the Jaguars have not indicated that they share this evaluation, and if the first pick in next month’s draft is used to select anyone other than Lawrence, it would be a fairly major upset.

Trevor Lawrence won’t be attending the 2021 NFL Draft in Cleveland

Presumptive No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence won’t be going to Cleveland for the NFL Draft, but instead will be in Clemson watching it.

With the 2020 NFL Draft being digital and the first of its kind, 2021’s draft will more so resemble the format many have grown to know and love, though precautions will still be taken. There will be free events held for the fans during the process in accordance with officials of Cleveland and a few fully vaccinated fans will be apart of the draft’s “inner circle,” allowing them to watch the draft closer than anyone.

Of course, prospects will be attending the process again, too, which will give allow fans to see their favorite college players walk across the stage. Unfortunately, that won’t include the probable No. 1 overall pick for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Trevor Lawrence, who has decided he’ll be watching the event from Clemson with a few family members, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

With Lawrence watching the draft remotely, the league will undoubtedly set up cameras at his location to give fans a look at how the process will unfold for him. Once his name is called, he’ll be the second No. 1 overall pick in a row to celebrate remotely with family, as Joe Burrow also did the same last year for the first digital draft in history.

Lawrence’s decision to watch the draft at Clemson makes a ton of sense after the history he’s made there. After all, he was able to win a national title there as a freshman and ranks third in team history as far as passing yards go with 10,098. While finishing with an overall completion percentage of 65.6% (527-of-804) and 17 interceptions, he’s also second in team history in touchdown passes with 90.

In terms of the specifics of the draft, it will be broadcast on NFL Network, ESPN, and ABC as fans have seen in recent history. The first three rounds will be primetime events shown throughout two nights, and the details of the specific times for the draft will emerge soon.

Jags OC Darrell Bevell attends Zach Wilson’s pro day, Urban Meyer not present

The Jaguars offensive coordinator was on hand for former BYU quarterback Zach Wilson’s pro day, but the Jags head coach was not.

Just because a team is fairly sure what they want to do with the first overall pick doesn’t mean they won’t do their due diligence. It seems that’s exactly what happened on Friday morning, as Jacksonville Jaguars offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell attended Zach Wilson’s pro day in Provo, Utah.

Notably, however, Jacksonville’s head coach Urban Meyer was not in attendance. That’s a bit surprising, as one would assume the man leading the team would want to be on hand to watch a potential franchise quarterback in action.

Meyer also didn’t attend the pro day for North Dakota State quarterback Trey Lance earlier this month. He was, however, in attendance for former Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence’s pro day, and he helped him coordinate an earlier pro day to accommodate his shoulder surgery.

Given these indicators, it doesn’t seem anything has changed regarding the Jags’ plans with the first overall pick. Though some analysts seem to prefer Wilson over Lawrence, there’s no reason to think the Jags’ staff feels that way.

But that doesn’t mean the team won’t scout the rest of the field, and considering the fact that, according to Albert Breer, Bevell has a house close to BYU (where his daughter attends school), there doesn’t seem to be much here that should worry fans who want Lawrence.

Chris Simms explains key reason he thinks the Jags will probably draft Trevor Lawrence

The NBC analyst has been vocal about his belief that Zach Wilson is the top quarterback in the draft.

Anytime there’s a clear-cut first-overall pick in the NFL Draft, you can expect to see a number of contrarian opinions. It happened with Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III, and it’s happening again now with Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson. Former NFL quarterback and current NBC analyst Chris Simms garnered some attention for ranking the former BYU passer above Lawrence, and on Good Morning Football, he seemed to imply that the wrong motivations could lead the Jaguars to draft him.

“He is from Georgia. That is right up the road from Jacksonville,” Simms said. “He of course went to South Carolina, Clemson there. He is a God-like figure, as far as football is concerned. He is going to sell tickets. He is going to be everything they want.”

It’s certainly true that the prospect of selecting Lawrence has brought a lot of excitement to the city (more than Wilson would bring), but that also doesn’t change the fact that Lawrence is more accomplished than Wilson, and Simms’ take puts him squarely in the minority.

“I like Trevor Lawrence,” Simms said. “But the thing that jumped out to me more, there was more missed throws and inaccurate throws on the film than I thought I was going to see. Not to say that there are still not a lot of damn good ones, but I think that to me was the difference.”

Simms said that if he were Jacksonville general manager Trent Baalke, he would take Wilson at No. 1 over Lawrence. Luckily for Jaguars fans, this will almost certainly not happen, as Lawrence and the Jags have been closely communicating throughout the pre-draft process.

Jordan Palmer discusses why Trevor Lawrence should be successful with Jags

The quarterback consultant said that the NFL might actually be less pressure than Lawrence was used to as the face of college football.

It’s not often a player comes around that receives the amount of pre-professional hype that Trevor Lawrence has. With him being considered a generational prospect, it’s a foregone conclusion he will be selected first overall by Jacksonville.

But quarterback consultant and former NFL passer Jordan Palmer thinks Lawrence is tuning out that chatter. On an episode of the “Patriot Talk Podcast” on NBC Sports, he discussed the former Clemson quarterback. You can listen to the clip starting at the 21:40 mark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jsg2EFAIZx4

“I think Trevor is just trying to get better, he’s trying to figure out what it’s going to take to be great in the league right away and do those things,” Palmer said. “He has the most NFL franchise quarterback experience before college than anybody I’ve been around. I’ve been around Watson, Mahomes… Trevor’s been a big deal since his senior year in high school.”

Palmer thinks that Lawrence is used to high-pressure situations like this. A starter throughout all three of his years at Clemson, he’s been in the national spotlight since he won the national championship as a true freshman. And though the Jaguars expect a lot out of him, Palmer said there may actually be less attention and pressure on him once he gets to the league.

“If he goes to Jacksonville, I think Jacksonville is going to feel smaller than what he’s been dealing with… he’s been the face of college football for three years, not Clemson.”

The Jaguars will hope Palmer is right about Lawrence, as they are about to make him the centerpiece of the franchise for (hopefully at least) the next decade.

Trevor Lawrence rehab update: Recovery going ‘very well’ so far

The likely first overall pick is a month removed from shoulder surgery, and his rehab process is reportedly going “very well.”

Jaguars fans anxiously watch as Jacksonville’s most valuable shoulder continues to rehabilitate. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence, the presumed first overall pick in the draft, underwent surgery to fix a torn labrum on his non-throwing shoulder after throwing at his own pro day last month.

According to an update from NFL insider Ian Rapoport, the rehab is going ‘really well.’

“I’ve talked to several people close to Trevor Lawrence, and everyone says the same thing. He’s doing well, very well, and ahead of schedule,” he said. “We are about a month in from surgery with Trevor Lawrence.”

According to Rapoport, Lawrence is just around a month away from being able to throw again. The hope is that he is fully able to go by the time training camp begins for the Jaguars in July. Rapoport also stated that Lawrence has remained in communication with the Jags.

“It’s going to be about a five or six-month rehab,” Rapoport said. “We are a month into that. He’s still out there in California actually working out with a physical therapist named Drew Marcos just to make sure he is getting ready as fast as possible. He’s not quite throwing yet. I would say in about four or five weeks from the people that I have spoken with, he should be throwing …

He has been participating in several zooms with the Jacksonville Jaguars coaches, presumably including Urban Meyer, just to make sure he is up on everything that he can be.”

Lawrence reportedly worked with Meyer to coordinate his early private pro day with the purpose of moving up the timeline of his surgery. He is expected to be fully healthy by the fall.

As for Lawrence’s meetings with the team, that was something Jags general manager Trent Baalke spoke on this week. He stated that the Jags had two virtual meetings with the Clemson star, both of which were “coach-oriented,” meaning those meetings involved Meyer and his coaching assistants. However, with each team being allowed five zoom meeting per player, Baalke and his front office personnel will get to meet Lawrence in the near future, too.

Trevor Lawrence signs a deal with Topps for exclusive box set of cards

The prospect most expect the Jags to take first overall, Trevor Lawrence, is already getting endorsement deals as he prepares for the draft.

One of the things that will certainly come with Trevor Lawrence’s career heading forward are endorsement deals. He’s already proving that before signing his first NFL contract as Topps was able to reel him in for a deal, which will have him featured on a set of special edition cards.

The series, which will consist of 50 cards, is expected to sell for less than $100. Topps will create 30 of the cards based on past designs, while Lawrence’s sister-in-law and brother, Brooke and Chase Lawrence, will design the other 20.

With Lawrence being such an important figure to football through his career at Clemson, Topps global director of e-commerce, Jeff Heckman, knew the company had to collaborate with the soon-to-be No. 1 overall pick.

“We always try to celebrate and chronicle what’s going on in sports and pop culture,” he said. “This is the first time we’ve done anything like this.”

The renowned company known as Panini holds exclusive NFL/NFLPA physical card rights currently and has since 2016. For that reason, Lawrence’s series of cards won’t have Clemson or NFL marks on them.  That means Topps is going to have to get creative and will likely focus on the art style of this series more than anything.