Six years into his NFL career, we are starting to see Trevor Lawrence hit his stride for the Jacksonville Jaguars. After Week 1's obliteration of Deshaun Watson's lowly Cleveland Browns, Lawrence played with the confidence we grew accustomed to at Clemson. He was 18-of-23 passing for 245 yards, four touchdowns, and no interceptions. Lawrence had one more incompletion than touchdowns in Week 1.
CBS Sports' Damien Harris, who played against Lawrence in college at Alabama, took notice of this elite performance by the Jaguars quarterback.
"The way Trevor Lawrence played today, it reminds me of when he was at Clemson," Harris said of Lawrence's tremendous Week 1 showing for the Jaguars over the Browns. "He's really making a push to be in that upper echelon of quarterbacks."
Lawrence entered an incredibly dire situation in Jacksonville. He had to deal with Urban Meyer as his head coach early on in his Duval tenure. Now that he has a sensational play-caller in Grant Udinski as part of Liam Coen's staff, Jacksonville could be a serious threat to make some noise in the AFC playoff picture. Meanwhile, Clemson fans are saddled with Christopher Vizzina and Tait Reynolds.
"The way Trevor Lawrence played today ... it reminds me of when he was at Clemson. He's really making a push to be in that upper echelon of quarterbacks."@DHx34 pic.twitter.com/9sQZhaKSsG
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) September 14, 2026
Trevor Lawrence might be too great of a comparison for Tait Reynolds
During Clemson's offseason quarterback battle, Reynolds drew favorable comparisons to Lawrence, Watson, and another Clemson legend in Tajh Boyd. The thought was that, in time, he would rise to the same level of ACC superstardom as those three. While Boyd did not have much of an NFL career, maybe he is the one we need to compare Reynolds to, and not Lawrence. That latter is so unfair.
Coming out of Clemson, Lawrence was the best quarterback prospect since Andrew Luck. He grew up idolizing Peyton Manning as a Tennessee fan from North Georgia. Lawrence ended up picking Clemson over Georgia to become the greatest quarterback Dabo Swinney ever coached. His sheer physical presence and distinct ad-libbing nature have made him such an easy quarterback to root for.
While some Clemson fans have become Jaguars because of Lawrence, his continued success in the NFL serves as an ever-present reminder of where he took the quarterback back to in college. To be frank, Clemson fans may have been spoiled to have Watson and Lawrence in such short succession. Then again, those are the type of stars who come into a program when it is at the peak of its powers.
What is important to understand here is that while Reynolds could still become a star for the Tigers, it may look more like what Boyd did in the early 2010s than what Lawrence did in the latter part of the decade. The good news for Reynolds is that Boyd is on the coaching staff, and his former offensive coordinator, Chad Morris, is calling plays for the Tigers again. The bad news is Clemson lacks depth.
After having been the standard under center for Clemson, maybe Lawrence was truly just an outlier?
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