JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — It's no secret getting selected first overall in the NFL draft puts a massive target on your back, and that remains true for Jacksonville quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
Lawrence was one of the most accomplished college football quarterbacks ever when the Jaguars plucked him at the top of the 2021 NFL draft. And even though he lead his team to the playoffs in his second NFL season, Locked on Jaguars host Tony Wiggins still sees plenty of national media not giving him the respect he feels he deserves.
"No matter what Trevor has done, no matter how he does it, I think there are people that [had] expectations that were too high," Wiggins said. "Him going through the growing pains that he went through with Urban Meyer as the head coach, that whole mess of a first season."
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Lawrence's first season in 2021 was a complete disaster, with Jacksonville going 3-14 under coach Urban Meyer. Lawrence completed uder 60% of his passes and led the league with 17 interceptions, but it's fair to assume a lot of that had to do with poor coaching from Meyer and his staff.
Indeed a new regime, led by Doug Pederson, immediately turned Lawrence's fortunes around, as he finished seventh in MVP voting in 2022 while doubling his number of touchdown passes (from 12 to 25) slashing his interceptions in half (17 to 8) and throwing for 4,113 yards.
The NFL is chalk full of young, uber talented quarterbacks - including Patrick Mahomes, Jalen Hurts, Josh Allen, Justin Herbert, and now incoming rookies Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud, but Lawrence deserves to be recognized among the game's best, and not judged for a disaster rookie season that is in the past.