How a Couple of Changes Transformed Trevor Lawrence
Last season saw Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence struggle with interceptions and poor decisions in the first seven games. But since his interception in the first half of the Tigers' 2019 game at Louisville, Lawrence has been special.
How special you may be wondering? Well, in the Tigers' last 10 games, Lawrence has thrown 26 touchdown passes against zero interceptions.
So, what is the difference from 2019 to 2020? According to Lawrence, it is his mindset.
"I think every year is different. But my mindset and focus level and the little details of the game are a lot better now than they were, and I've gotten a lot smarter," Lawrence said.." I've also simplified things and I'm not trying to do too much and I'm taking what's there. Moving the ball consistently, that's one of my goals. Just going back to the basics and taking whatever the defense is giving me."
One of the more noticeable changes that Lawrence made this offseason, that can be seen, is that he changed his stagger-foot when in the shotgun.
This was done at the recommendation of quarterback coach Brandon Streeter, who encouraged Lawrence to try changing up his stance in order to aide in his ability to throw the quick-game passes.
"In general I switched my stagger this offseason. I think it makes it more efficient on quicker throws having my right foot back," Lawrence said. "Also on drop back, I feel like I have a better base doing that. Coach [Brandon] Streeter and I talked a lot about it in the offseason and have just been messing around with it, and I think it's working well.
"I think playing the quarterback position, the pre-snap intensity as far as your reads and keys are so important and then your post-snap recognition, I think that's where I've gotten a lot better this year is being really locked into my certain keys and reacting post-snap and knowing the plan like the back of my hand, I think that's where I've gotten a lot better."
It was not only his stance that Lawrence went to work on during the Tigers' offseason. A shoulder injury early in the 2019 season kept Lawrence from being able to get the ball in the proper position that he was used to throwing from.
That change, along with getting the added reps in before the Tigers started camp, mean that opposing defenses could be in for a very long season.
"Trying to always keep the ball high when I'm holding it, sometimes I would tend to drop it a little bit," Lawrence said. "Getting a lot of reps is the main thing. As far as my motion, didn't really change anything, but I think getting a lot of reps in the offseason really helped a lot. Having that time... we didn't necessarily have workouts because of COVID, but a few of the guys were able to get together and get some timing down. And then me just getting a lot of reps in and making sure I was in good spot when we started camp. And then in camp, I think we did a really good job of taking advantage of all the time we had. And really made every rep like game reps. I think we practiced really well, and you're seeing that in games."
