Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson are the latest quarterbacks to fall 1-2 in the NFL Draft. While their respective individual and team results suggest they had an incredibly bad 2021 rookie season, it would be premature to dismiss them both for quick QB bankruptcies.
Lawrence and Wilson made a lot of mistakes due to inexperience while adjusting the pace of the professional defence. But their numbers are also a major by-product of receiving limited help from their support systems.
Both QBs were also hurt by the contrast compared to other younger QBs. While the 49ers’ Trey Lance and the Bears’ Justin Fields had a hard time failing to start right away, first-team rookie Mac Jones effectively led the Patriots to the AFC best-ever record. Second-year first-round starters Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa and Justin Herbert are also playing well for their team.
Meanwhile, Lawrence threw for the Jaguars 2-11 and Wilson threw for the 3-10 Jets. Lawrence dealt with shaky offensive training throughout the season during Urban Meyer’s leadership dysfunction. Wilson was facing a knee injury that cost him four games after a slow start to Mike LaFleur’s offense. Along the way, the Jets lost a left split (Mekhi Becton), trailing behind (rookie Michael Carter) and two of their best scorers (Corey Davis, rookie Elijah Moore) to injury.
In each of their cases, Lawrence and Wilson were pleased with their arms and health, often a fault. When they were lowered, their confidence took a hit.
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Trevor Lawrence: Trying to do too much with too little
Lawrence’s Numbers (13 games)
- Number of completions: 271
- Effort: 466
- Cross: 2.735
- Completion rate: 58.1
- Quantity per try: 5.7
- Number of touches down: 9
- Interception: 14
- Passerby rating: 68.9
Lawrence has started every game since Week 1. He had a run over many TDs in a loss to the Texans to open the season, but he hasn’t played since. His best game period also came at the start of the season, when he was consistently underrated in the ’90s as a passerby in Weeks 4-6, a stretch that included cup wins. period before the Dolphins in London.
The worrisome part is that Jaguar has been playing poorly since Week 7 bye. Lawrence has only thrown a total of two TD passes since the Week 8 action. He defended the ball better, also with just two interceptions – until he had four career youth goals in a 20 loss. -0 against Titans in Week 14.
Lawrence is handling a lot of skill placement attacks. He lost his first post-match against Clemson, Travis Etienne, because of a pre-season foot injury. Widespread Recorder DJ Chark broke his ankle in Week 4. Mixed Recorder Jamal Agnew suffered a hip injury in Week 11. Dan Arnold, the Panthers buyout, suffered a serious knee injury during the Week. . twelfth.
THAN: Urban Meyer’s Timeline of NFL Dysfunction with the Jaguars
The Jaguars have played well and, when committed to him, presented a capable game with last year’s underwhelming rookie sensation James Robinson. But with the cautious combination of offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell and game coordinator Brian Schottenheimer – also his defender coach – Lawrence certainly had to focus more than let loose. Staffing usage has been wildly inconsistent – journeyman Laquon Treadwell becomes a random pick compared to freelance salesman Marvin Jones Jr. and promising sophomore Laviska Shenault Jr.
Lawrence is still unstable because there is nothing stable around him. Adjustments have not been to his strengths and unfortunately, the benching of Robinson in Week 13 has Lawrence to question whether he is in the best position to improve his movement on the ball. Are not.
When you look at Lawrence, he is often forced to do something out of limited assets, leading to inaccuracies, either hasty short throws or toppling the receiver. The jaguars should sometimes let him run free with improvisation and use his own running skills to ignite confidence in his play as a passer. That probably doesn’t help with Lawrence’s invisibility as a leader in a well-reported uncomfortable environment.
Lawrence needs a clear partnership with a new coaching staff on an offensive that understands all he can do and helps him make them do them better, not worse. Let’s hope the Jaguars get him right for a real rookie season that is reset for 2021 after some embarrassingly unintentional “redshirting”.
Zach Wilson: No rhythm, no apparent health ratio, no continuity
Wilson’s numbers (9 games)
- Number of completions: 160
- Effort: 285
- Chain length: 1.741
- Completion rate: 56.1
- Number of cards per attempt: 6.1
- Number of touches down: 6
- Interception: 11
- Passerby rating: 65.2
Wilson had the same difficulty as Lawrence in terms of accuracy and getting the ball out quickly. He started off too aggressive, didn’t test his strength the way he should, and tried in vain for the big plays that came easily to him in college. But since coming back from a knee injury, he doesn’t seem to play consistently, sometimes getting stuck between hanging in there to get through and move.
He looks like the typical slick rookie at times, and in a rhythm-based attack borrowed from the 49ers, short to mid-range inaccuracies can snowball into mistakes coming from Wilson. . The Jets have seen Wilson a few more red flags than the Jaguars with Lawrence, but a knee injury has robbed him of precious development time in the off-season. Wilson has also flashed with deep dribbling and improvisation, but he needs to learn to play more with control and in a QB-friendly foul.
The Jets didn’t provide him with good pass protection except for Becton. They were slow to deploy Moore, who plays their most dynamic role, to a prominent role, with a concussion in Week 3 not helping. Wilson didn’t have much time on the pitch with Davis, with whom he soon showed a strong connection down the field, and Moore. Davis and Moore are out now, and that’s not a good sign that Braxton Berrios is his remaining top target. Carter’s special reception slides off the backyard were also missed and the Jets were judged as not having a more believable and viable tight finish.
THAN: How the Patriots helped Mac Jones look like the best QB from the 2021 NFL Draft class
If Lawrence or Wilson had started their careers in patriots like Jones, the pace and production would certainly have been vastly different. Jaguars problems are more innate; The Jets’ woes have increased throughout the season. The Jaguars need to overhaul planning and staffing to lift Lawrence, while the Jets just need more healthy time with Wilson with some of the work already in place to make him much more successful in Year 2.
It’s hard for a QB rookie to rush into a full rebuild and avoid the water at first. The Patriots, Bengals, Dolphins, and Chargers were all not in that state when their recruits were brought into that fight. The Patriots upgraded the tight finish, wide receiver and ran well again with the arrival of Jones. The Bengals, Dolphins and Chargers saw some good with Burrow, Tagovailoa and Herbert as rookies and focused on enhancing them with different “next steps” in both philosophy and personnel.
Lawrence and Wilson both have room for significant improvement. But it’s impressive that they managed to stay there and take charge despite getting into messy situations. For now, give them a year rather than giving them bust labels. However, it would be a much different story if they were at the same level below average in year 2.
