Anonymous NFL Assistant Says Lawrence Not A Generational Talent
Trevor Lawrence is going to be the first player to hear his named called when the NFL Draft kicks off on April 29.
The quarterback has been considered by many a lock to go number-one overall since his freshman season at Clemson when he led the Tigers to a perfect 15-0 record and a national title. Some have been projecting Lawrence in that spot even longer than that.
However, the closer we get to it actually happening, the more the experts have tried to pick apart the film looking for reasons why Lawrence may not be worthy of that pick.
This year's quarterback class is as deep as it has been in quite some time leading to even more debate. Lawrence, BYU's Zach Wilson, Ohio State's Justin Fields and Alabama's Mac Jones are all expected to go in the Top-10 and some claim Wilson is the best of the bunch.
Tom Pelliserro of the NFL Network recently spoke with several scouts, coaches, and executives about the top quarterbacks in this year’s draft class and the results on Lawrence were mixed. One NFC assistant said he wasn't the generational talent that many have made him out to be.
"Trevor Lawrence is a really good player," the NFC coordinator said. "I don't know if he's a generational talent like people are saying."
A quarterback coach that resides in the AFC went as far as saying he'd use the first pick on Wilson.
“If I was picking No. 1 -- hoo, man, it'd be hard for me not to take him over Trevor," the anonymous AFC quarterbacks coach said. "He's got real playmaking ability. He's shorter (than Lawrence) -- I get it. But he's got ball all about him. He makes plays -- unique plays.”
Another AFC quarterbacks coach said that he understands why the Jaguars have to take Lawrence with that first pick. However, at the same time, he isn't as sold on the quarterback as others, and in fact thinks last years number-one overall pick Joe Burrow is the better prospect.
"If you didn't take him and you're Jacksonville, and it turned out that he was a perennial Pro Bowler, then you'll never live it down," another AFC quarterbacks coach said. "They have to take him. I think the intangibles are there. He can throw the ball. But he does not have unique, rare playmaking ability. If I'm comparing last year to this year, Joe Burrow is picked over Trevor Lawrence 100 times out of 100."
Lawrence's play on the field isn't the only thing that has been under a microscope in recent weeks. The former Clemson standout recently came under fire for some comments made in an interview with Sports Illustrated, something an AFC scout addressed when speaking with Pelliserro.
"His adversity's the expectations. He can't have a bad day," an AFC scout said. "To his credit, he's almost too good to be true of a kid. There are not a lot of adults, in our league or any walk of life, that can handle that spotlight that kid's been under. And he's kind of embraced it. This guy's been told how great he is. This guy's had those expectations coming in, which was a different kind of pressure, and he lived up to it."
Lawrence has already more than proved himself throughout his Clemson career and on some of the biggest stages college football has to offer. While that certainly doesn't guarantee him success at the NFL level, one college scout said any knocks on Lawrence basically boil down to over-analyzing
"There's just over-scouting that goes on in our league -- like a guy's got to have holes or something," a college scouting director said. "I go back to when [Lawrence] was a freshman -- if he could enter the draft [then], he would've been the first pick to me after his freshman year."
"What is giving people pause are probably the two (College Football Playoff) games he lost, the one to Burrow (and LSU, in the title game) and the one to (Justin) Fields (and Ohio State, in a semifinal game) where he wasn't at his best, to be straight about it. But he's so good and talented and athletic. C'mon. That guy can win you Super Bowls."
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