Jaguars' Presumptive First Overall Pick Trevor Lawrence Will Not Attend NFL Draft
The Jacksonville Jaguars presumptive No. 1 overall pick, quarterback Trevor Lawrence, will not be attending the NFL Draft in person.
Adam Schefter of ESPN first reported the news late Sunday afternoon.
Instead, Lawrence—the starting Clemson Tigers quarterback the past three years—will watch from Clemson with a small group of family and friends, as Schefter explains. He goes on to explain it was always Lawrence’s “desire” to spent draft night this way, despite the NFL’s invitation and the near certainty he will be the Jaguars No. 1 overall pick. Typically invites are extended to those almost guaranteed to be a first round pick and at the very least, a second round pick.
The NFL Draft is being held in Cleveland, Ohio this year. Attending typically allows for prospects and their families/significant others to walk the red carpet, mingle in the green room and walk across the stage when their name is called to hold up a jersey of their new team, handed over by Commissioner Roger Goodell.
Prospects saw a new kind of draft last offseason however, when the global pandemic COVID-19 forced the NFL to hold a virtual draft. As such, an extra layer of intimacy was added, allowing those watching the broadcast to see draft picks celebrate in their homes, surrounded by their closest family and friends. Or in the case of 2020’s No. 1 overall pick Joe Burrow, simply he and his parents.
Lawrence has long been lauded as the worthy No. 1 overall pick. And the Jaguars own that pick for the first time in franchise history. It’s the first of 10 picks the club has in draft capital this offseason. While Owner Shad Khan and Head Coach Urban Meyer have not yet publicly named Lawrence as the club’s choice, the duo has repeatedly expressed the importance to get the pick “right” and the team’s need for a franchise quarterback.
On the day Meyer was announced as the Jaguars new head coach in January, he admitted the opportunity to pick first overall was “huge” in him taking the job. He also began to set the foundation for the importance of the pick.
“You see [Clemson QB] Trevor [Lawrence], you see [Ohio State QB] Justin [Fields], you see [BYU QB] Zach [Wilson]. As Shad said, this is a monumental moment for this franchise. We’ve seen some franchises explode and we’ve seen others fail. I’ve said this many times throughout my career is that when the NFL says it’s a quarterback league, I would say ‘well so is college and so is high school, so is Pop Warner.’ It’s a quarterback sport, so whoever takes that snap, we have got to be right on.
“Who we pick at that quarterback spot, that’s going to be one of the most important decisions I’ve made in my lifetime, along with the partnership of our owner and our general manager. The ones that are out there, my initial study, because I have been studying a lot, I like to use the term elite. I see some elite quarterbacks out there right now.”
In mid-February, Meyer—along with Offensive Coordinator Darrell Bevell and Passing Game Coordinator Brian Schottenheimer—attended Lawrence’s Pro Day. They left beyond impressed.
“It couldn’t have gone better. I think I made the comment we had high expectations going into it, like really high. I’ve seen him throw before. I really wanted [Offensive Coordinator] Darrell Bevell and [Passing Game Coordinator] Brian Schottenheimer to witness it. Watching a guy throw, especially throw, on video tape, it’s not the same. I made the comment you want to hear it leave his hand, listen to it go by you, and to me, I don’t know how you evaluate a quarterback without doing that. So, I thought he did great. We’ve had a couple Zoom calls with him and he’s been great, and we like where we’re at with him.”
The Jaguars have had representatives at other Pro Days but Lawrence’s is the only one Meyer has attended.
In three years at Clemson, the Heisman Trophy finalist finished with a 67% completion rate, 11,041 total yards and a 108 total touchdowns to 17 interceptions.
