Clemson football: When did Trevor Lawrence take a step back?

After leading Clemson football to the 2018 national title, quarterback Trevor Lawrence was the great football legend in the making. Like, the saying goes, if you live long enough you see yourself go from hero to villain.

My no means am I saying Trevor Lawrence is a villain, but what was seen as a “sophomore slump” has taken him from a can’t miss prospect and the best pro prospect in a decade to being the second-best quarterback available in the 2021 draft – should he declare early.

The ridiculousness of this proclamation comes after Lawrence had a better 2019 than he did in 2018. More yards, more touchdowns, higher completion percentage, higher yards per attempt, and higher quarterback rate. He literally improved in every category possible but because he threw four more interceptions “analysts” dropped him behind one-year starter Justin Fields.

Not to take anything away from Fields, but he isn’t Trevor Lawrence. He isn’t the leader that Trevor is, he isn’t the passer that Trevor is, he isn’t the player that Trevor is and he isn’t the champion that Trevor is.

One of these quarterbacks led his team to the national championship game twice. One of these two quarterbacks outplayed the other in a head to head matchup. One of these quarterbacks is 24-1 as a starter with a national title and the other is Justin Fields.

Trevor Lawrence is what the NFL is moving toward in terms of quarterbacks. A mobile pocket quarterback with a deadly arm. When Justin Fields lost the ability to make plays with his feet in the Fiesta Bowl, he threw two interceptions and had two more dropped.

By no means is Trevor a “can’t miss prospect” and that notion has always been ridiculous, but he damn sure is more talented than anyone in 2020, 2021, 20222 or 2023 draft class. Everyone drooling over Joe Burrow is comical; they forget about his first four years in college and seem to think that his fifth year was who he really is. Trevor may have had one bad game, but his college career has already been better than Burrow’s in half the time.

Trevor continues to improve and get better and for some reason, he has taken a backseat to guys that have a single good year. The tape will always tell the truth and Trevor’s tape should have everyone excited about what he will do next.