NFL analyst sees Jacksonville Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence as top 5-ish passer

Trevor Lawrence was the clearcut choice for the Jacksonville Jaguars at No. 1 in the 2021 NFL Draft but Chris Simms of NBC Sports believed at the time that Zach Wilson was the better prospect of the two. Simms has progressively changed his tune since then and has recognized how much better Lawrence has gotten over the last two years. Moreover, he thinks he's a top 5-ish, if not a top 5 passer in the league.

In a conversation with colleague Mike Florio, Simms talked about how much better Lawrence has gotten, noting that there aren't many areas of his game he needs to clean up and instead must focus on being a bit more consistent.

"To me, it's got towards the end of the year, icing on the top type of stuff, where it's just 'Oh, all right, you're Trevor Lawrence'", Simms said. "Make some of the plays you talked about, you're capable of doing that and more. Maybe a little sloppy with the ball still at times at the end of the year, forcing balls in, 'Oh I think I can make this throw'."

"We saw that not only in the Chargers game but in the Chiefs game as well, where there were some mistakes but nothing major, Mike. It's refining, it's just like "Hey can you take over more in the fourth quarter? Can you make 45 decisions in a row that are perfect instead of 43 out of 45? Can you do that? That's where we're getting with Trevor Lawrence, and the way it looked at the end of the year, he's top five-ish, if not number five.

Simms ranked Wilson higher than Trevor Lawrence in his 2021 quarterback rankings but has adjusted their respective spots over the last two seasons. Keep in mind, that Simms wasn't alone in thinking Wilson was a special talent. Several scouts saw the former BYU Cougar as the second-best passer in the 2021 draft. However, Lawrence has made huge strides the last two seasons while Wilson's future as a starting NFL quarterback is in doubt after getting bench last year.
Here's the whole clip of Florio and Simms talking about Lawrence and the Jaguars.

Jacksonville Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence still has room for improvement

It's true that Lawrence doesn't have to fix many issues but that's because he was playing at a high level at the end of the 2022 season. Having said that, there's one area where the third-year quarterback can improve and that's not throwing interceptions at crucial times.

Throwing a pick in the first quarter doesn't have the same impact as getting intercepted in a potential game-winning drive. Lawrence needs to work on cutting down on the latter. Last season, he threw interceptions with the game on the line several times. More specifically, he had a chance to lead winning drives against the Washington Commanders, the Philadelphia Eagles, the Houston Texans (first match), and Denver Broncos but instead fell short.

The silver lining is that Lawrence began to deliver in close games in the half of the season and after a switch after the loss to the Broncos flipped. Furthermore he showed against the Chargers that he could overcome his own mistakes and lead to the Jaguars to victory.

Trevor Lawrence made a huge leap last year and if he continues to refine his game in Year 3, the Jacksonville Jaguars will be hard to beat next season.