Clemson football freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence was officially named the starter Monday, beating out senior Kelly Bryant for the job.
Clemson football has a new starter at quarterback.
Freshman Trevor Lawrence was announced as the new starting quarterback for the Tigers Monday morning by Head Coach Dabo Swinney, beating out senior Kelly Bryant for the job.
This decision is coming off the heels of Lawrence’s impressive performance against Georgia Tech where he threw for four touchdown passes to one interception.
Analysis:
The truth is that the offense just has a different dynamic to it when Trevor Lawrence is in the game. Even splitting snaps with Kelly Bryant, Lawrence is still tied for second in the ACC in touchdown passes.
He won the job fair and square and it was just one of those situations where the writing was on the wall.
The coaching staff made the decision that they thought was in the best interest of the team going forward. Giving Lawrence the start and the keys to the offense will allow him to improve as the season progresses and get him ready for an ACC Championship game and, more importantly, a College Football Playoff appearance.
Clemson football has the advantage of a fairly weak schedule. That means Lawrence will have eight games before the postseason in which he’ll be able to work on his craft, grab the reins of the offense and become the best player that he can be.
This also doesn’t signify the end for Kelly Bryant. I expect the coaches to get him in the game in specialized situations and to still earn playing time.
But, with that being said, a change like this does tell me that the coaching staff plans to go with one quarterback, for the most part, going forward. They are ready for Lawrence to handle the majority of the snaps and it will be interesting to see how he performs this week as the starter against Syracuse.