Clemson Football: Mel Kiper thinks Justin Fields could overtake Trevor Lawrence

NFL Draft Analyst Mel Kiper doesn’t believe that Clemson football QB Trevor Lawrence is the clear-cut No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.

The Clemson football program has seen its fair share of talented and special athletes over the course of the Dabo Swinney era, but the top may very well be Trevor Lawrence when it’s all said and done.

Lawrence, who is expected by many to be the top prospect in the 2021 NFL Draft, has already led the Clemson football program to two National Championship appearances, one National Title and two ACC Championships.

As Lawrence heads into his junior season, though, NFL Draft Analyst Mel Kiper believes he still has some work to do to lock up the No. 1 overall spot in the 2021 NFL Draft.

Kiper said that Lawrence struggled down the stretch of the 2020 Clemson football season and that opened up the door for Ohio State’s Justin Fields to potentially overtake him for that top spot.

"“Very close, very close — no question about it,” Kiper said on ESPN’s NFL Live. “I think that (Lawrence’s) struggles late (in the season) opened the door. You can argue that point all they want, the bottom line is facts are facts and (Lawrence) did struggle in those last two games.”“And I think you look at Justin Fields, he had that (knee) injury. That last pass in that (semifinal) game would have won that football game, weave them into final (but) was the reason why. I think you look at that (Ohio State) team, would they have played LSU tougher? Who knows.”"

Anyone that watched the Playstation Fiesta Bowl would have come away with the thought that Lawrence had the better night than Fields. He basically beat Fields in every statistical category and won the game.

Let’s also not forget for all the “struggling” that Kiper wants to bring up, Lawrence led Clemson on a 4-play, 94-yard drive late to win the game. That’s what he was able to do.

This isn’t to say that Justin Fields isn’t a good player, it is to say though, that no prospect is better than Trevor Lawrence and Kiper shouldn’t have much trouble understanding why. Lawrence has the strongest arm we’ve seen in years, he has great measurables and he shows elite athleticism.

Those are the reasons that Lawrence is the No. 1 overall pick in the draft next year.

But, we shouldn’t forget that Kiper did say that Mitchell Trubisky was a better QB prospect than Deshaun Watson.