Trevor Lawrence, Clemson Tigers. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
The Jaguars are one step closer to Trevor Lawrence.
Believe it or not, the Jacksonville Jaguars made it all the way to the AFC Championship Game in the 2017 season. They did so behind a dominant defensive effort and some clutch throws by Blake Bortles.
Well, the very next season saw Bortles revert back to what he was earlier in his career and because the defense wasn’t what it was the season prior, Jacksonville fell back into irrelevancy. Their winning ways was short-lived, but it doesn’t necessarily have to stay that way.
The 2020 season won’t be a good one for the Jaguars, but maybe they’re intending for it to be that way. They didn’t add quarterback talent this offseason and traded away Nick Foles, meaning they’re planning to roll with Gardner Minshew (the 2019 sixth round pick) to win games for them.
Minshew was fine as a rookie, but he’s not the long-term solution. Adding Cam Newton would have been a smart move for the Jaguars if they actually wanted to contend, but we’ve seen themes like “Tanking for Tua” (which oddly enough didn’t end up being what happened) and “Suck for Luck” and the next will likely be “Tanking for Trevor”, which will be the Jags’ motto in 2020 more than likely.
Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence is projected to be the No. 1 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Lawrence has been one of the top names in college football since he took over as the starting quarterback for Clemson in 2018 as a true freshman, throwing for 6,945 yards and 66 touchdowns during that time while making it to two National Championship Games, winning one.
It’s no wonder that NFL teams are drooling over holding the number one pick in next year’s draft so that they can take the Clemson product and have him be their quarterback of the future.
The Jaguars have a huge need for a quarterback and Lawrence would take them from lovable losers to dominant winners. Had they signed Newton, he’d have done enough to keep them around .500 (especially in the ever mediocre AFC South) and they’d miss out on Lawrence and then likely lose Newton after the 2020 season.
Now, the Jaguars can throw Minshew out there, give him minimal help, and hope that they’re lousy enough to land the number one overall pick in next year’s draft. It could be a franchise-changing move for the Jacksonville Jaguars organization.
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