Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence was a finalist for the MVP last season after leading the Jaguars to a 13-4 record, an AFC South title, and going to the playoffs.
Lawrence recorded his third 4,000-yard season and set a career-high in touchdown passes with 29. He also had the fifth-most touchdown passes out of anyone in the NFL last year, while the Jaguars' offense ended the season red-hot.
Despite all that Lawrence did last season, there are still some NFL analysts who are unimpressed by him, including ESPN's Mike Clay, who recently put together his positional rankings. Clay ranked Jacksonville’s quarterback room as No. 16 in the NFL behind teams such as the Washington Commanders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Part of what Clay emphasized
with his rankings is that they considered the entire position group instead of solely focusing on the starter. However, that does not explain Jacksonville’s low rating given they have a veteran backup in Nick Mullens who has 20 NFL starts.
This ranking is probably most attributable to a lack of confidence in Lawrence being able to repeat last season's success. However, last season was not the first time Lawrence received consideration for the MVP, as he was No. 7 in MVP voting last time he took the Jaguars to the playoffs in 2022. He also had a productive 2023 season before getting injured in 2024.
The continuity of being in Liam Coen's offense for a second year could also be a catalyst behind continued growth.
Jacksonville may not have consistently won a lot of games in Lawrence’s tenure as a quarterback prior to 2025, but he has still been the franchise quarterback the Jaguars drafted him to be back in 2021.
This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: Trevor Lawrence, Jaguars QB room receives middling ranking
