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.