Jacksonville vs Cleveland: Trevor Lawrence Has a Golden Opportunity

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JACKSONVILLE- First overall pick, Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence has a golden opportunity to get ahead of Gardner Minshew for the starting job. Lawrence must put up big numbers tonight whether he is the first string or second string in tonight’s game.

Let’s be honest, the Jaguars should start Lawrence this season regardless of when it happens. A team doesn’t draft a quarterback first overall to develop by just studying. Lawrence needs to get experience. It would be a wise decision to start him as first string tonight and get him as much game experience as possible. Lawrence was 34-2 as a starting quarterback at Clemson. He had a .944 winning percentage. Only Miami Hurricanes starting quarterback Ken Dorsey and USC Trojans starting quarterback Matt Leinart has higher winning percentages.

Minshew can certainly challenge Lawrence but he hasn’t experienced much success in his first two NFL seasons. Granted, Minshew played just nine games last season which is not enough proof of what he can do but he played 14 games in his rookie season. He passed for 3, 271 yards in those 14 games in 2019 which isn’t the best total but it’s far from the worst total for 14 games. It’s just Minshew hasn’t done enough to cement his role as a starter. Also, Head Coach Urban Meyer needs time to make a decision as he is new to coaching in the NFL.

It’s time for Lawrence to start his winning ways at the next level. If he can put up 100 yards and a touchdown in limited playing time, it will go a long way to securing his place as a starting quarterback when the Jaguars face the Houston Texans in their season opener. Trevor Lawrence can earn his starting role if he can replicate his success at the NFL level. Obviously, that doesn’t mean have the same winning percentage as that wouldn’t be likely at all to do so at the NFL level. If he can lead the Jaguars to multiple playoff appearances, then the Jaguars first overall pick of the 2021 draft looks like the right decision. Everything starts tonight. It may just be a pre-season game to everyone else but for Lawrence, it’s bigger than that.