It must be frustrating to be Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence. The rookie has steadily improved as the season has gone on, and after being criticized for accuracy and decision-making early on, he has only thrown one pick in the last five games.
Still, the Jacksonville offense is struggling with several starters out along the offensive line and at receiver (a position where depth was limited to begin with), and the play-calling hasn’t been able to adjust. Lawrence was efficient in the Week 11 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, completing 16-of-25 passes for 158 yards and no interceptions, but he also didn’t find the end zone and struggled to move the ball.
In its rookie grades for the week, Pro Football Focus gave Lawrence some credit as he was the Jags’ second-highest graded offensive player.
Overall Rookie Grade: 58.8 (Rank: 6/7)
Week 11 Grade: 71.4
Lawrence didn’t have a bad game this week against the San Francisco 49ers, but his receiving help is getting thinner and thinner as the season progresses. The Jaguars lost Jamal Agnew for the year due to injury, and Lawrence ended the game with just 6.3 yards per attempt. He made one big-time throw and went without a turnover-worthy play for the third time this season, but the overall results show just how much help the Jaguars’ offense needs independent of Lawrence.
The first overall pick now has one more big-time throw than he does turnover-worthy plays on the season to go with a 71.1% adjusted completion rate.
In Deadspin’s rookie quarterback rankings, Lawrence comes in second behind New England’s Mac Jones, who is leading his team to a potential playoff berth.
Another convincing loss for Jacksonville at home to the 49ers, 30-10. Lawrence has looked like a below-average QB for most of the season, but he had zero INTs in this game which is always a good thing. There isn’t a ton of talent around Trevor at this point, and this rebuild is undoubtedly going to take another couple of years. It’s going to take some time, but one day, Lawrence should be a top 10 QB in the NFL. It just won’t happen this year.
ESPN’s quarterback rankings dinged Lawrence for his performance, however. He dropped three spots from No. 24 to No. 27, and his QBR on the season is just 35.0. CBS Sports’ quarterback power rankings are a bit higher on Lawrence, as he ranks 25th, but he still dropped two spots this week.
Someone please get this guy some help, either schematically or otherwise.
NFL.com’s QB Index is the lowest on Lawrence of all the power rankings, listing him at No. 29 (a decrease of one spot).
Of all the Jaguars’ blowout losses this year, Sunday’s edition was the least on Lawrence. The score was 17-0 before the No. 1 overall pick threw his fourth pass. He didn’t have a turnover-worthy play and made some quicker reads. The Jacksonville offense is broken, however, doing much of its scoring in garbage time since a Week 7 bye. Losing Jamal Agnew for the season shouldn’t be that big a blow, but here we are.
Though there is some disagreement in these reviews, the consensus is that the team isn’t giving Lawrence enough help on offense. With Agnew being placed on the injured reserve, he’ll have one fewer weapon to look to with the ball. There probably isn’t much the Jaguars can do about its offensive problems during the season, but adding pieces to surround Lawrence with on offense should be a top priority this offseason.
