Tag: Quarterback grades

It must be frustrating to be Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence. The rookie has steadily improved as the season has gone on, and after being criticized for accuracy and decision-making early on, he has only thrown one pick in the last five games.

Still, the Jacksonville offense is struggling with several starters out along the offensive line and at receiver (a position where depth was limited to begin with), and the play-calling hasn’t been able to adjust. Lawrence was efficient in the Week 11 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, completing 16-of-25 passes for 158 yards and no interceptions, but he also didn’t find the end zone and struggled to move the ball.

In its rookie grades for the week, Pro Football Focus gave Lawrence some credit as he was the Jags’ second-highest graded offensive player.

Overall Rookie Grade: 58.8 (Rank: 6/7)

Week 11 Grade: 71.4

Lawrence didn’t have a bad game this week against the San Francisco 49ers, but his receiving help is getting thinner and thinner as the season progresses. The Jaguars lost Jamal Agnew for the year due to injury, and Lawrence ended the game with just 6.3 yards per attempt. He made one big-time throw and went without a turnover-worthy play for the third time this season, but the overall results show just how much help the Jaguars’ offense needs independent of Lawrence.

The first overall pick now has one more big-time throw than he does turnover-worthy plays on the season to go with a 71.1% adjusted completion rate.

In Deadspin’s rookie quarterback rankings, Lawrence comes in second behind New England’s Mac Jones, who is leading his team to a potential playoff berth.

Another convincing loss for Jacksonville at home to the 49ers, 30-10. Lawrence has looked like a below-average QB for most of the season, but he had zero INTs in this game which is always a good thing. There isn’t a ton of talent around Trevor at this point, and this rebuild is undoubtedly going to take another couple of years. It’s going to take some time, but one day, Lawrence should be a top 10 QB in the NFL. It just won’t happen this year.

ESPN’s quarterback rankings dinged Lawrence for his performance, however. He dropped three spots from No. 24 to No. 27, and his QBR on the season is just 35.0.  CBS Sports’ quarterback power rankings are a bit higher on Lawrence, as he ranks 25th, but he still dropped two spots this week.

Someone please get this guy some help, either schematically or otherwise.

NFL.com’s QB Index is the lowest on Lawrence of all the power rankings, listing him at No. 29 (a decrease of one spot).

Of all the Jaguars’ blowout losses this year, Sunday’s edition was the least on Lawrence. The score was 17-0 before the No. 1 overall pick threw his fourth pass. He didn’t have a turnover-worthy play and made some quicker reads. The Jacksonville offense is broken, however, doing much of its scoring in garbage time since a Week 7 bye. Losing Jamal Agnew for the season shouldn’t be that big a blow, but here we are.

Though there is some disagreement in these reviews, the consensus is that the team isn’t giving Lawrence enough help on offense. With Agnew being placed on the injured reserve, he’ll have one fewer weapon to look to with the ball. There probably isn’t much the Jaguars can do about its offensive problems during the season, but adding pieces to surround Lawrence with on offense should be a top priority this offseason.

Jacksonville quarterback Trevor Lawrence is having a tough go of it as a rookie. But while he hasn’t singlehandedly turned the team around, it’s hard to place much of the blame at his feet. While he struggled with accuracy and decision-making in the early part of the season, he’s gotten much better in both regards as the season has progressed.

He’s mostly avoiding interceptions, and his low completion percentage can largely be attributed to dropped passes, which have been a massive issue for the Jaguars’ receiving corps this year. Still, it hasn’t been the rookie season that many Jags fans hoped for from the young passer, and his grades after Week 10 reflect that.

Pro Football Focus was especially negative about Lawrence’s play in recent weeks.

Overall Rookie Grade: 56.9 (Rank: 6/6)

Week 10 Grade: 58.2

It might not be time to panic over Lawrence’s rookie season, but at the very minimum, it’s tough to see it as anything other than a significant disappointment so far for a prospect who was being talked about as one of the best to come along in the past 20 years.

As usual, Lawrence made good throws against Indianapolis this week, including a nice sideline dime to Jamal Agnew that fell incomplete, but there was also plenty of bad. He fumbled the ball while trying to escape the pocket into multiple defenders and forced a pass into double coverage on the run, netting out to another overall PFF grade in the 50s— his fourth such outing of the season. The situation in Jacksonville isn’t great, but even with that context, you would have expected to see more from Lawrence at this point in the year.

Deadspin’s quarterback rankings after Week 10 concurred, though it did offer more positive note and ranked Lawrence as the No. 2 rookie passer behind New England’s Mac Jones.

Lawrence and Jacksonville fell to 2-7 Sunday, and his play can be rated anywhere from average to below average from week to week. But hey, remember, Peyton Manning also stunk it up his rookie year. So, hang in there, Jacksonville fans. I still think Lawrence will be very good, and possibly even a great NFL QB. He’s taking his lumps right now, but it’s going to pay off eventually. I can’t promise that Urban Meyer will be there to enjoy the potential good times down the road, but at least he’s been flying under the radar here lately. That alone is a positive.

ESPN’s Mike Tannenbaum ranked Lawrence 24th among NFL passers after his forgettable Week 10 performance, a one-spot drop from the previous week. In the QB index from NFL Network’s Gregg Rosenthal, Lawrence placed No. 28 among NFL passers, which was actually a two-spot rise from the previous week.

There are plays Lawrence looks overwhelmed; the Jaguars coaches and the rookie QB both still struggle to deal with pressure when it arrives. With that said, it’s remarkable how many of Lawrence’s best passes over the last month have been dropped. His No. 1 receiver is converted returner/running back/wideout Jamal Agnew. I appreciate that Lawrence has stayed aggressive through it all.

In the CBS Sports quarterback power rankings from Cody Benjamin, Lawrence ranked higher at No. 23, but that was a three-spot drop.

Classic rookie QB problem: He’s not been great, but neither has his supporting cast. Jacksonville desperately needs to get him some weapons to properly evaluate his progress in 2022. (-3)

While the consensus is that Lawrence is currently underperforming, all of these evaluations still give him the benefit of the doubt due to a supporting cast that’s struggling. He desperately needs more weapons in the passing game, and that’s a problem that won’t be addressed in a major way before the end of the season.

There’s no reason for Jags fans to panic about Lawrence’s trajectory, but improved play down the stretch would do a lot to boost the confidence in him heading into 2022.