Doug Pederson highlights the one weakness Trevor Lawrence must address before becoming elite

When the Jacksonville Jaguars made Trevor Lawrence the No. 1 overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft, the hope was that he could transcend this franchise into an annual contender. To his credit, the Jags have been competitive in two of his three seasons in the NFL, but he’s not quite on the same level of some of his peers, such as fellow former top pick Joe Burrow.

We saw the disastrous results when paired with Urban Meyer, and things certainly improved when working with Doug Pederson, but everyone expected the former Clemson superstar to take a major leap forward in his third season. That didn’t happen. So what went wrong? What does Lawrence need to work on this offseason? His head coach recently answered that question in front of the media.

Doug Pederson says turnovers continue holding Trevor Lawrence back most

As a rookie Trevor Lawrence led the NFL with 17 interceptions thrown, but Peyton Manning showed this shouldn’t be a concern, at least not for a rookie. After all, the Hall of Fame QB still holds the rookie record for interceptions thrown, and he played 16 games, unlike Lawrence who started 17. Still, Lawrence tossing 17 picks doesn’t compare to Manning’s 28.

Then Lawrence only threw eight interceptions during his second season, helping lead the Jaguars to the playoffs. But in 2023, the turnover woes returned, and Lawrence threw 14 interceptions in 16 games while also tying for an NFL-worst seven fumbles lost.

Protecting the football is the name of the game, and Lawrence hasn’t found a way to win the turnover battle consistently enough. Earlier this week, Doug Pederson highlighted Lawrence’s turnover problem as the biggest thing his young quarterback still needs to work on before becoming one of the best in the game today.

“It’s the biggest thing that he has to focus on moving forward. We just can’t have this amount of turnovers. How we turn the ball over, where we turn the ball over, it doesn’t matter. We’ve got to protect the football. That’s the No. 1 thing. For the quarterback, the person that touches the ball every snap, we got to make sure the emphasis is taking care of the ball.”
Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson on Trevor Lawrence

A year ago the Jaguars seemed poised to become one of the best teams in the NFL, but we instead saw regression in 2023. However, they won the same amount of games, which suggests they’re not far off from getting back to the playoffs, but as Coach Pederson noted, they must find a way to reduce the amount of turnovers committed.

With an entire offseason to recalibrate, Lawrence will have plenty of time to work on his game, and ending just shy of a trip to the postseason should be all the motivation the Jaguars need to pounce on their opponents next season.