After years of showing flashes but not enough consistency, the Jacksonville Jaguars watched Trevor Lawrence become the player they envisioned when they drafted him first overall in 2021. He should be even better in his second year under head coach Liam Coen. But as good as he was in 2025, and as great as he can be next season, No. 16 isn't getting much love across the league.
Lawrence played like a top-10 quarterback to finish 2025 but failed to get a good spot in most quarterback rankings ahead of the regular season.
Trevor Lawrence fails to crack the top 10 in NFL quarterback rankings
Mika Sando of The Athletic surveyed coaches and executives across the league to rank all starting quarterbacks. He came up with several tiers and placed Trevor Lawrence in Tier 3, ranking him No. 16 among his peers.
One voter might have said what consensus thinks of the sixth-year quarterback, "If everyone around him does their job at a high level, he has a chance, but he is never going to be able to carry anything for an extended period of time."
While it's true that Lawrence hasn't been consistent enough, he hasn't always had a good supporting cast. When he has (2022 and 2025), he's managed to play at a high level. This is a roundabout way to say that the former Clemson Tiger can put his team on his shoulders, but the Jaguars haven't always set him up for success.
Another voter said that Lawrence is going to flash in spurs, but he's who he is at this point: "streaky, up and down." On the other hand, voters believe he's been more confident with Liam Coen at the helm, so there's that.
In case you were wondering, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Matthew Stafford and Joe Burrow landed in Tier 1. Lamar Jackson, Justin Herbert, Dak Prescott, Drake Maye, Jared Goff, Jordan Love, Brock Purdy, Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield popped up in Tier 2.
You can make a strong case that Lawrence is better than a few of those quarterbacks, but there's only one thing he can do to prove critics wrong: Put his head down and show that he can be even better than he was late in 2025. Leading Jacksonville to a deep playoff push would also help.
The Jaguars could watch Trevor Lawrence cement his place as a top 10 QB
Apart from the Athletic, Bleacher Report also posted a quarterback ranking and had Trevor Lawrence at No. 12. Certainly better, but outside of the top 10. PFF also ranked him at No. 11, so at least they're higher on him than Mike Sando.
What's probably keeping Lawrence off the top 10 is that he's not consistent enough. That's where the streaky criticism is warranted, but he will have a prime opportunity to change that next season. Working in his favor is that he was able to focus on mastering the Liam Coen offense in the offseason since he didn't have to recover from injuries like he did the past two years.
Moreover, Lawrence will have what's arguably the best supporting cast in his career. And with a dominant defense to prevent opponents from reaching the end zone, he won't have to score 30 points every game to have a chance at winning.
Simply put, Trevor Lawrence is in a position to prove he's a top-10 quarterback. And nobody should bat an eye if he joins the MVP conversation once again at some point in 2026.
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