‘We’re not talking enough about him’: Stephen A. Smith raves about Lawrence
By: Staff Report August 2, 2023

Which quarterback makes the biggest leap in the NFL this season?

That question was posed during ESPN’s First Take show, and Stephen A. Smith adamantly brought up former Clemson and current Jacksonville Jaguars star Trevor Lawrence.

“The name that comes to my mind is Trevor Lawrence,” Smith said. “We’re not talking enough about him. We need to.”

Smith was obviously very impressed by what Lawrence did last season in his first-ever playoff game, rallying the Jaguars from a 27-0 deficit to beat the Los Angeles Chargers, 31-30, in the AFC Wild Card Playoff game in Jacksonville.

The 27-point comeback marked the largest in franchise history and the third largest in playoff history. After throwing four interceptions in the first half, including three in the first quarter, Lawrence responded with four touchdown passes, three of which came in the second half.

“I will remind everybody, forget simply that it was a 31 to 30 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers. Remember, they were down 27 to nothing,” Smith said. “Remember, Trevor Lawrence threw four interceptions in the first half in his first playoff performance. It’s enough to demoralize any quarterback and send him into depression – I’m not joking about that – for years to come, because that’s something that’s hard to overcome. He didn’t overcome it the next season. He overcame it 15 minutes later after a halftime break and came out there and threw four touchdowns and spearheaded them to victory, 31-30. He was absolutely spectacular in the second half.”

Smith added that the Chargers blowing the big playoff lead “doesn’t take away from the greatness of Trevor Lawrence.”

“To be that young coming out of Clemson, No. 1 overall pick, the expectations. 6-6 with that arm. When I think about Trevor Lawrence, I think about a (Chargers QB) Justin Herbert, I think about those kind of comparisons,” Smith said. “And to show up in the playoffs and to outperform Justin Herbert in that second half, to be assisted by Doug Pederson, to look at his teammates have the faith in him that they have.”

The No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, Lawrence made huge strides in his second NFL season last year while completing 66.3 percent of his passes for 4,113 yards and 25 touchdowns with eight interceptions. In two seasons as a pro, he has thrown for 7,754 yards and 37 touchdowns while completing 62.9 percent of his passes, to go with 625 rushing yards and seven more scores on the ground.

Smith clearly expects Lawrence to make another major leap in Year 3.

“I’m telling you right now, Trevor Lawrence is coming,” Smith said. “We understand he’s the No. 1 overall pick so you can say expectations, expectations, he’s supposed to do this. Well damn it, he did it. You don’t see too many people overcoming a 27-point deficit in the first half, particularly when you were the one throwing four interceptions. And to make that kind of immediate turnaround in the same game and come back from that, I think that’s a building element there especially with Doug Pederson, a Super Bowl champion as a head coach in Philadelphia, being his head coach right now.”

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