One national outlet believes a pair of Clemson pros could be primed for bounce-back campaigns in 2025.

Pro Football Focus (PFF) listed one bounce-back candidate for each team entering the 2025 NFL season and named two former Tigers among them – Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence and Detroit Lions defensive tackle DJ Reader.

Last season, Lawrence completed 60.6 percent of his passes for 2,045 yards with 11 touchdown passes and seven interceptions in 10 games before being placed on injured reserve following his shoulder injury and concussion. He has been rehabbing from December surgery to repair the AC joint sprain in his left (non-throwing) shoulder.

“Inaccuracy, injuries and coaching instability derailed Trevor Lawrence’s 2024 season,” PFF’s Dalton Wasserman wrote. “He finished with a 73.8 passing grade and a career-worst 3.9% turnover-worthy play rate while missing seven of Jacksonville’s final eight games. Since then, the Jaguars have overhauled their leadership structure, signed multiple veteran offensive linemen and assembled what could be one of the league’s most dynamic receiving duos in Brian Thomas Jr. and Travis Hunter. If Lawrence returns to full health, he’s well-positioned for a strong bounce-back campaign in 2025.”

Since being drafted with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, Lawrence has completed 63.3 percent of his passes for 13,815 yards and 69 touchdowns with 46 interceptions in 60 games over his first four NFL seasons. The Jaguars signed Lawrence to a five-year, $275 million contract extension prior to the 2024 season.

As for Reader, the 30-year-old veteran is entering his second year with the Detroit Lions in 2025 after signing a two-year deal with team last offseason.

During his first year in Detroit, Reader started all 15 games he played in, tallying 23 total tackles, four tackles for loss, three sacks, eight quarterback hits and one pass defended.

“Over the past nine seasons, Reader has established himself as one of the NFL’s premier run stoppers. However, he’s coming off a year in which he posted career lows in overall and run-defense grades,” Wasserman wrote. “He was tasked with his heaviest workload since 2021, especially after Alim McNeill suffered a season-ending injury. With McNeill returning and first-round pick Tyleik Williams joining the rotation, Reader could thrive in a more balanced role with a reduced snap count in 2025.”

After being drafted by the Houston Texans in the fifth round (166th overall) of the 2016 NFL Draft, Reader spent the first four seasons of his NFL career (2016-19) with the Texans before playing four years with the Cincinnati Bengals from 2020-23.

Over his career with the Texans, Bengals and Lions, Reader has posted 300 total tackles, 27 tackles for loss and 12.5 sacks to go with 52 quarterback hits, nine passes defended, three fumble recoveries and one forced fumble across 120 games (111 starts).

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