Cris Collinsworth foresees former Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence taking a substantial step forward in his second NFL season this year.
After being taken No. 1 overall in the 2021 NFL Draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars, Lawrence struggled as a rookie last season while completing 59.6 percent of his passes for 3,641 yards and 12 touchdowns with 17 interceptions, tied with Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford for most in the league.
Considered a generational talent by many coming out of Clemson, Lawrence underperformed last season based on expectations. But during a recent appearance on “The Ari Meirov Show”, Collinsworth explained why he believes Lawrence will be a lot better in 2022.
“I think that you have to expect a jump. Because typically we see a jump, regardless, in second years with the quarterbacks,” the former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver and current NBC “Sunday Night Football” color commentator said.
“Just think about what these quarterbacks go through their rookie year, especially the high draft picks. So, they have to go to all these workouts, they have to get ready for the combine, they’re under pressure constantly to perform. They’re in front of the media nonstop, they’re getting picked apart by every critic, by every PFF, by every group out there, and by the time they’re drafted in the end of April, they’ve got to be exhausted, right? I mean, you’ve got to be. You go through that entire process, and every other quarterback is playing golf during January and February and March, and then they’re starting to work out and they’re going to be ready, where these guys are, like, their brains have to be fried. … So, I think, on its face, that Lawrence is going to be better.”
Collinsworth also thinks Lawrence will benefit from having Doug Pederson as his new head coach with the Jaguars, and Collinsworth likened Pederson’s personality to that of Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney.
“Doug is one of the coolest guys in the world,” Collinsworth said. “He’s just a laid-back, comfortable kind of guy, much like what Trevor had at Clemson — somebody that he’s going to be very relatable.”
Collinsworth loves the quarterback-coach duo of Lawrence and Pederson, a former NFL quarterback who won a Super Bowl as a player with the Green Bay Packers and as a coach with the Philadelphia Eagles.
“I think it’s a match made in heaven to be honest with you,” Collinsworth said. “It’s a great choice. Trevor is a tough kid. The only time I saw him in person last year was in Cincinnati on a Thursday night. He runs — he runs hard — and he has a real element of that. He’s going to have (Travis) Etienne come back sort of as his safety valve kind of guy who didn’t play at all last year. Do I think that they’re going to go and win the division? Probably not, but I would expect a major jump.”
"It's a match made in heaven to be honest with you. … I would expect a major jump." ~ @CollinsworthPFF on Doug Pederson and Trevor Lawrence in Jacksonville pic.twitter.com/PuiY6NAGS2
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) July 8, 2022
Can Doug Pederson unlock Trevor Lawrence’s potential? pic.twitter.com/Aoa3ALghMv
— PFF (@PFF) July 7, 2022
–Photo for this article courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
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