How Jaguars’ Trevor Lawrence Has It Better in 2023
The swell of support coming in for the Jacksonville Jaguars franchise quarterback Trevor Lawrence is making waves even beyond the ranks of the “Duval Devout” as it seeps into the parts of national media.
However, there are still critics that still aren’t convinced that Lawrence has the potential to lead the Jags into a divisional-round playoff victory. For those individuals out there, I offer these three ways that Trevor has it better than last season.
The Chemistry for pass-catchers is already there.
This time last year, Trevor Lawrence as an incoming sophomore had spent a season with Marvin Jones and a list of starters who aren’t on the team. With that in mind, that version of T-Law missed a wide-open newly acquired Christian Kirk twice to complete third downs in Kirk’s first Jaguars against the Steelers at TIAA in a preseason contest.
Now with a season’s worth of polish applied, Lawrence has developed with most of his starting targets in Kirk, Zay Jones, tight end Evan Engram and even his running back Travis Etienne. While it would have been nice if he still had Marvin Jones in the line up for continued chemistry with a starter he had more time with than anyone else, to add Calvin Ridley as a player trying to revive his NFL career is a fair trade off.
While Ridley and Lawrence did still have a communication gaffe similar to the previously mentioned ones with Kirk in the first 2023 preseason that lead to an interception against the Cowboys in Dallas. it was literally the former Atlanta receiver’s first live game action in years. After they’ve moved toward righting the ship.
A Full Season Developing with Coach Doug Pederson
While this seems a bit odd to list, it’s less about Doug Pederson arriving and more about Lawrence spending his rookie year “meyer-ed” in bad coaching. (See what I did there?)
Without directly naming the individual who presided over most of the 2021 season that had members of the Duval Devout wearing clown masks in the stands of TIAA Banks Stadium at the end of the year, one can understand how Pederson’s arrival for the 2022 campaign can more be seen as a successful reboot for Trevor than a continuation of his development.
In short, as it’s been said many times, though he was more than a full year removed from being the top NFL Draft pick from Clemson, Lawrence’s rookie year with true NFL-caliber coaching was last year. This seems apparent considering the Jags turning a five-game losing streak into a 7-2 stretch to win the AFC South.
Imagine what Pederson can do to develop a more comfortable Trevor Lawrence that he couldn’t do with a backup in Nick Foles with whom he won a Super Bowl in Philadelphia.
Running Back Chemistry
This too is a crew with a majority of guys returning and the main new faces currently on the roster including their rookie 2nd round pick Tank Bigsby or veterans D’Earnest Johnson and Qadre Ollison.
Particular to Travis Etienne who was drafted in the same year and round as Lawrence from the same school, Etienne spent last year trying to find his grove in what was essentially his rookie year after missing 2021 due to injury. But whether it’s Etienne, JaMycal Hasty, Snoop Connor, or wide receiver Jamal Agnew (should they opt to line him up in the backfield) Lawrence has had time with these guys to develop that timing.
But what timing is important with running backs? It’s not as simple as handing the ball off, as one would expect. Nor is it limited to receiving as much as we hear about that being an essential element for success in an NFL running back’s career.
The big factor with chemistry with all the departures, suspension, and youth in the Jacksonville offensive line is communication in blocking support. The quarterback knowing the strengths and tendencies of each running back in pass protection or in checking down once they release from a blitz could also be the difference between a sack or moving the chains.
