The NFL is a fun form of chaos. The fact that it is unpredictable from week to week is what makes it special. But there are some things that are predictable in the league. And I’m willing to wager there will be rumblings that Trevor Lawrence, the odds-on No. 1 overall pick, should either go back to Clemson or leverage the New York Jets, the team most likely to land at No. 1, to trade their pick so he can land somewhere else.
It’s. Not. Happening.
There are already people suggesting he should stay, which is just ludicrous.
The NFL has a system (the draft) in place, and while it’s unfair the league ships off the best and brightest college players to a dumpster-fire organization based on a reverse-meritocracy. That’s just the way it is. Did the Bengals deserve Joe Burrow? Absolutely not. Would New York be good to Lawrence? Probably not.
Staying at Clemson another year to avoid the Jets might be Trevor Lawrence's best option, according to @roddywhiteTV pic.twitter.com/AgAPBw7uBD
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 21, 2020
At times it feels like sending a Harvard student (like poor Ryan Fitzpatrick) to a nearly-bankrupt technology company, hoping they will save the overall quality of its product. It’s a backward system, but it helps encourage parity, which is what keeps the NFL interesting. (“Any given Sunday!”)
Anyone that suggests Lawrence has some sort of power in this situation is idealistic — or just very confused.
He should not return to college, where he’d only risk injury for the sake of pursuing another college football national championship. Lawrence won one in 2018. He’ll be in the mix to win one this year. He should not waste time or money with Dabo Swinney and the Clemson Tigers for another year. And in 2022, if his knee (or some other important body part) doesn’t combust, he’d inherit a different organization that’s just as bad as the 2020 Jets. Heck, it might even be a worse form of the Jets, if that’s even possible. It’s not worth it. Most kids should stay in school. Lawrence isn’t one of them.
As for wiggling his way out of the Jets’ grasp by demanding a trade, that just doesn’t happen anymore. John Elway, who managed it successfully when he came out of college in 1983, had leverage that other top prospects don’t have. He could’ve played baseball, which would have yielded millions. Eli Manning, who got away from the Los Angeles Chargers in 2004, is a member of football’s royal family (And the royal line doesn’t seem to be done.) Those are unique cases. Yes, Lawrence is an elite prospect like Andrew Luck and Peyton Manning. But the Clemson quarterback is not going pro in another sport and he’s not a Manning. He’ll almost certainly accept his fate, like every other draft pick.
The NFL draft, like death, taxes and Thanos, is inevitable. Lawrence will be a Jet (unless another NFL team somehow manages to play worse and lands at No. 1). The people suggesting otherwise are just looking for something to talk about.
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