Trevor Lawrence named Jaguars Week 1 starting quarterback

Trevor Lawrence, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, is officially the Jacksonville Jaguars’ No. 1 quarterback.

Jacksonville head coach Urban Meyer announced Wednesday that Lawrence will be the Jaguars’ Week 1 starter, a conclusion that has long been speculated but not made official by Meyer. Lawrence entered the preseason in a quarterback room with NFL playing experience and had to compete with Gardner Minshew, a former sixth-round selection out of Washington State.

Through two preseason games, Lawrence has held a completion percentage just north of 62.5, throwing for 184 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions, while being sacked three times.

Meyer has established that the 21-year-old quarterback has some work to do. Still, he seems pleased with Lawrence’s progress since the draft.

“I saw good plays,” Meyer said at halftime of the Jaguars’ first preseason contest. “I saw a guy who made a couple nice plays on 3rd down. … Instead of anticipating the throws [he was] holding on to it a little bit but we have a long way to go.”

Lawrence was selected first overall by the Jaguars after a prolific three-year career at Clemson, which included one national championship victory and one finish as runner-up.

He led the Tigers to a national championship as a true freshman in 2018 after throwing for over 3,000 yards and 30 touchdowns, enough to earn him freshman All-America honors and the ACC Rookie of the Year award. Although Clemson fell to Alabama in the national championship game his sophomore year, Lawrence continued to show strides in 2019, throwing for over 3,600 yards and a career-high 36 touchdowns. He became the second Heisman Trophy finalist in program history in 2020 following another excellent campaign; this time, Lawrence finished an abbreviated 2020 season with an average of 315.3 passing yards per game, breaking a program record of 306.2, previously set by Deshaun Watson mark in 2016.

Lawrence declared for the NFL Draft as one of college football’s most decorated quarterbacks in recent memory. He finished his career with a 34-2 overall record, making him the winningest starting quarterback in Clemson history; his .944 win percentage is the the third-best by a starting quarterback at any school since Division I split in 1978.

A former five-star prospect and one of the top recruits in the country, Lawrence was first named starter in the third game of his freshman year at Cartersville High School in Georgia. He managed to win 52 of the 54 games he started, including a 41-game winning streak and a 14-2 record in the playoffs.

Lawrence and the Jaguars start their season on the road on Sept. 12, where they will face the Houston Texans.