When you hear most analysts talk about Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence and the buzz surrounding his NFL draft in prospects in 2021, there’s no shortage of praise heaped upon him. He’s considered by a bunch of NFL-types to be the best quarterback prospect since Andrew Luck came out of Stanford in 2012.
And yeah, Lawrence has the numbers and intangibles. He stands tall in the pocket, has good mobility, and has been an accurate passer for the majority of his career at Clemson. But … get this — according to the folks at Pro Football Focus, they actually consider Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields as the better prospect.
“Justin Fields should be ahead of Trevor Lawrence,” said PFF. “He’s graded better, he’s graded better in pro like situations. He’s six-foot-three. It’s not like he’s some shrimpy guy that no one’s ever heard of. Justin Fields ahead of Trevor Lawrence.
“They both project to be better than Tua (Tagovailoa) and a little bit less than (Joe) Burrow, but of course Burrow had the senior year that none of them have had yet. So for right now, it’s Fields then Lawrence — and then — if Tua were in next year’s draft, he’d be third.”
You can watch the video below for yourself.
2021 1st pick: Justin Fields or Trevor Lawrence? pic.twitter.com/9mJPGPMG7f
— PFF (@PFF) March 26, 2020
And there’s some truth to what the numbers say too. Last season it was Fields that was invited to New York as a Heisman finalist, not Lawrence. The Ohio State quarterback threw for 3,273 yards and 41 touchdowns, completing 238 of 354 passes (67.2%), and throwing only three interceptions. His QB rating for the season was 181.4.
Lawrence, on the other hand, threw for 3,665 yards and 36 touchdowns, completing 268 of 407 passes (65.8%) with eight picks. His QB rating finished the season at 166.7.
Now, it’s hard to compare apples to apples completely, but Fields also went against better defenses in the Big Ten and still put up slightly better numbers. Unfortunately for the OSU QB, Lawrence and his team got the last laugh in 2019, but there’s always this year (hopefully).
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