Heading into the 2021 NFL Draft, then-Clemson star Trevor Lawrence was mentioned as a generational prospect. But his rookie season under coach Urban Meyer didn’t feature many inspiring moments that led anyone to believe Lawrence was on his way to becoming elite.
Then a much-needed coaching change happened, with GM Trent Baalke moving on from Meyer, later hiring former Super Bowl-winning head coach Doug Pederson. Suddenly we saw a completely different quarterback leading the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Lawrence helped take a team who ‘earned’ the first overall pick in consecutive seasons back to the playoffs, going from worst to first in the AFC South. Clearly, the Jaguars had help in the win column, improving by six wins, but it was in large part to the massive improvement seen from the young QB under center.
As Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk pointed out via NFL Research, Lawrence’s passer rating from year one to year two is the largest in NFL history with at least 400 pass attempts. We saw him improve from a 71.9 QB rating to 95.2 in his second year, going from being ranked 30th among gunslingers to finishing ninth.
We frequently see young QBs take a second-year or even a third-year leap, but what Lawrence accomplished has never been done before. We’ll see what else the 23-year-old can accomplish as he heads into his third season with the Jaguars.
Related: NFL QB Rankings: Updated with all 32 starters from Sam Howell to Patrick Mahomes