Zach Wilson and Trevor Lawrence will forever be linked as the first two picks — and quarterbacks — taken in the 2022 NFL draft.
Lawrence was thought to be as close to a sure-fire star as any draft prospect can get after a dominant career at Clemson that included a national championship. Wilson possessed all of the raw traits to be successful at the next level, but still had plenty of developing to do. Both have struggled in their rookie seasons, though, combining to throw more interceptions than touchdown passes.
Lawrence and Wilson will duel for the first time when the Jaguars come to MetLife Stadium on Sunday. The two got to know each other a bit during the pre-draft process, but never squared off in college — making Week 16 the first of what Wilson hopes will be many matchups between the two.
“He’s a great dude. We only got some time to spend together, but just a cool dude to be around,” Wilson said Thursday. “It’s going to be a fun matchup just because we’re going to be playing in the league from the start of the same time for hopefully a long time, so it’s going to be cool just to follow his career and to be able to match up against those guys. I just hope he does well and I always hope the best for him.”
Lawrence has completed just 58.1 percent of his passes for 2,945 yards, nine touchdowns and 14 interceptions in 14 games with the 2-12 Jaguars. Just one of those touchdown passes has come in Jacksonville’s last seven games. Wilson’s numbers aren’t any better, as he has completed 56.2 percent of his passes for 1,911 yards, six touchdowns and 11 interceptions in 10 games.
Ironically, Wilson holds the common opponent advantage over Lawrence. Wilson beat a Titans team that Lawrence has lost to twice. He also beat a Texans team that just completed a season sweep of the Jaguars.
Statistics aside, Sunday could mark the beginning of a rivalry between quarterbacks selected first and second in the draft. Lawrence and Wilson have struggled in 2021, but both have the tools to develop into quality starters for a long time.
“It’s not like me against him,” Wilson said. “Yes, do I want our team to beat the Jaguars? Yeah, I do. I hope to go out there and play well. But I don’t look at it as me vs. Trevor or my stats vs. Trevor. … It’s not like we’re fighting for a starting position on the same team. We can cheer each other on which is really cool.”
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