Why 2025 Is ‘Now or Never’ for Trevor Lawrence

Top 10, honorable mention and also receiving votes. Those are the three categories in Jeremy Fowler’s annual survey of the best NFL quarterbacks. With zero votes, Trevor Lawrence wasn’t even a thought in the minds of personnel executives, scouts and coaches.

That’s a stunning fall for the No. 1-overall selection just four years ago. And considering he’s tied with Joe Burrow, Josh Allen and Jordan Love as the league’s second-highest-paid player (averaging $55 million per season), this is a critical season for Lawrence and the Jaguars.

“Is Trevor Lawrence going to become more than average?” asked former quarterback Dan Orlovsky on Monday’s edition of Get Up.

“Can he get more consistent? Can he lead like he hasn't done before? Can he become a difference-maker for Jacksonville? He’s under the most pressure of any quarterback in that conference.”

What’s so enigmatic about Lawrence is his sophomore NFL season. After the Urban Meyer debacle his rookie year, Lawrence not only led the Jaguars to the postseason in 2022; he also won a playoff game before losing to the eventual Super Bowl champion Chiefs.

And from Week 9 of 2022 through Week 12 of 2023, Lawrence led Jacksonville to a 15-5 record and posted a 97.7 passer rating. Since then? Look away, Jaguars fans.

One of the sneakiest storylines entering NFL training camps is the Jaguars. Jacksonville made the boldest move of the offseason when James Gladstone traded up to draft Travis Hunter, pairing the two-way star with Brian Thomas, a legitimate offensive rookie of the year candidate in 2024. To fight off those who would label him a bust, what will Lawrence do now?

“Now or never,” said two-time Super Bowl champion Damien Woody. “The excuses are over with. You're getting paid too much money to be going out there and putting that type of product out there. I don't want to hear about the past or whatever. Like now, right now, Liam Coen was brought into Jacksonville because of you, to fix you. If you can't get it done, that's bust material in my opinion.”

At least right now, in July, the voters Fowler polled to create the list don’t believe Lawrence is bust material. But if the question was who has the most to prove, rather than who’s the best quarterback, Lawrence would’ve been at the top, Fowler added.

In the survey of more than 50 influential minds across the league, 18 quarterbacks received at least one vote. Names mentioned included Kyler Murray, Tua Tagovailoa and Bo Nix, who are a combined 0-3 in playoff games.

Duval news is best served by following @JaguarsOnSI and @_John_Shipley on X (Twitter). Never miss breaking Jaguars stories with that combination.

Also, keep in mind that our Facebook page is a great way to share feedback and connect with fans all over Earth, by clicking here.