Trevor Lawrence named Jaguars player with most to prove in 2022

Despite the fact that Trevor Lawrence is entering just his second season in the NFL, Doug Kyed believes he’s the Jacksonville Jaguars’ player with the most pressure to perform in 2022.

Kyed recently drew up a list of players, one for each NFL team, with the most to prove this year and he chose Lawrence for the Jags. Kyed notes that the former Clemson Tiger has an “uphill battle” after a disappointing rookie campaign. On the other hand, he cites a source that believes Lawrence will get better in Year 2.

"Lawrence disappointed as a rookie with a 59.6 PFF grade, but he faced an uphill battle amid the coaching staff chaos around him.“Lawrence will take a step forward”, one source said. “The players around him are more talented, and the team will be better coached”."

Lawrence’s rookie output was among the worst in the league. He threw a league-high 17 interceptions and only had 12 passing touchdowns. Moreover, he averaged a paltry 6.0 yards per throw. That’s not the kind of production you want from the quarterback position but the truth is that any first-year quarterback would have probably struggled under the same conditions.

The Jaguars are now putting Trevor Lawrence in a position to succeed

The Jaguars didn’t do much to help Lawrence last year. Urban Meyer proved he wasn’t capable of coaching an NFL team and didn’t have a concrete plan to develop Lawrence. Similarly, the team’s brass didn’t surround him with top talent, and the roster’s lack of depth was exposed when injuries hit them, leaving the quarterback with more on his plate than he could handle. On the bright side, it looks like Jacksonville won’t be making the same mistake.

Besides hiring Doug Pederson as the head coach, they also revamped Lawrence’s supporting cast. He’s still the same talented player he was coming out of college but is now in a position to flourish. This makes him a prime candidate to make a leap in Year 2. The other side of the coin is that he will now be under intense scrutiny to play at a high level.

After all, you want the No. 1 overall pick to become a franchise cornerstone and that’s precisely what the Jaguars expect Lawrence to become in his second NFL season. He showed flashes as a rookie, he now needs to turn that potential into steady production.

It’s true that Lawrence is expected to improve in 2022 but given how talented he is and all the changes the Jaguars made this offseason, it’s easier to see him getting better than taking a step back.