Trevor? As in Lawrence?

Luke Braun writes his latest in a series breaking down quarterbacks and their mechanical trajectories, this time focusing on Trevor Lawrence and his apparent resurgence.

Photo by Logan Bowles/Getty Images

If you’re reading this, you’re probably a Vikings fan interested in quarterbacks’ capacity to improve from their rough starts. You know, for… reasons. This piece is part of a series on several quarterbacks who are playing better than they did at the beginning of their careers, and how that improvement came to be. This article isn’t about the Vikings. But it kind of is.

The spectre of potential can be an insurmountable mountain. I’ve already written breathlessly about how the “Golden Boy” reputation shaped J.J. McCarthy’s entire life. Trevor Lawrence’s story followed a similar path. Lawrence knew well before the draft that he’d be the first overall pick. He’s been blowing football minds away since he was seven years old.

So when he was tasked with saving the ever-ailing Jacksonville Jaguars, he had to know that expectations were perhaps unattainably high. The way pundits and NFL scouts hyped Lawrence, anything short of the NFL’s elite would be a disappointment.

Suffice to say, it’s been a disappointment for everyone except a dedicated group of Jacksonville fans.

Is Trevor Lawrence Good Enough?

Per Trumedia, Trevor Lawrence has a precisely average EPA/dropback over his NFL career: 0.00. The Jaguars have had one playoff season in his time in Jacksonville. Trevor Lawrence has never earned All-Pro honors. He has only participated in one Pro Bowl after Patrick Mahomes (Super Bowl), Joe Burrow and Josh Allen all bowed out.

But things may be turning around. For the last two weeks, Lawrence has been on fire. A five-game winning streak, capped off by two league-leading performances, would be enough to make you reconsider Trevor Lawrence’s claim to the NFL’s golden throne.

Don’t think too hard about who else is on this list, it’s 2 games.

Has Liam Coen finally unlocked a hidden power here? Has the NFL’s golden boy finally found the secret sauce? To examine that, we need to understand what was wrong in the first place.

The Jaguars Make A Mess And Clean It Up

We don’t need to talk about Urban Meyer. His was one of the most disastrous tenures of all time. It was well-documented enough if you want a refresher, but suffice to say, we can give Trevor Lawrence a mulligan on his rookie season.

When Doug Pederson took over in Jacksonville, we saw a cleaner picture. Trevor Lawrence not only ranked top 10 by several metrics, including EPA/Dropback, but also led an historic comeback in the Wild Card round. The season ended with a hard-fought loss in Kansas City the next week, but it felt like Lawrence had proven something.