INDIANAPOLIS — If Trevor Lawrence was allowed to be drafted this year by NFL teams, Mitch Hyatt is confident his former quarterback could succeed despite just being 19 years old.
“It would not surprise me if he could come out and put the work in he puts in college,” the former Clemson left tackle said to The Clemson Insider and the rest of the media at the NFL Scouting Combine Thursday in Indianapolis, Ind. “If he puts the work in that he puts into college football, he could do the same in the NFL.”
Hyatt, who was a two-time All-American for the Tigers, said he never saw anyone in his four years at Clemson come to college as a freshman with the work ethic and the maturity that which Lawrence did last year.
Hyatt admits he is not a “super analyst” or any kind of expert on quarterbacks, but he feels Lawrence is different than most quarterbacks.
“Just seeing how hard he works, I mean there is always something you can work on. But seeing how hard he works and seeing the kind of work ethic he had when he first got to Clemson and the maturity he had, it was unlike anybody I had ever seen,” Hyatt said.
Hyatt compared Lawrence to former Tiger great Deshaun Watson, who is preparing to start his third season for the NFL’s Houston Texans. Watson was 32-3 as a starter and in 2016 led Clemson to its first national championship in 35 years.
Watson holds most of Clemson’s single-season and game records and some career marks as well.
“They are two comparable type of players,” Hyatt said.
This past season, in his first year as a starter, Lawrence led the Tigers to a second national championship in three years with a 44-16 victory over Alabama in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game on Jan.7.
Lawrence threw for 3,280 yards and 30 touchdowns in 2018. His yards and touchdowns set new freshman records by a Clemson quarterback.
Lawrence also went 11-0 as a starter, a new Clemson freshman record as well, and became the first freshman quarterback since 1985 at the FBS level to lead his team to a national championship.
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