Where does the Jaguars franchise QB rank on PFF’s list of top young players?

Heading into the fourth season of his NFL career, Trevor Lawrence is still considered a top talent for his age. That’s according to Pro Football Focus, which rates the Jacksonville Jaguars franchise quarterback among the top players in the league under 25.

Looking at the data, it's easy to see why PFF thinks highly of the Knoxville, Tennessee native despite the fact that he's coming off a disappointing end to the 2023 season.

Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence’s NFL numbers so far

Although he hasn’t exactly piled up the wins professionally like he did in college, Lawrence’s pro passing numbers are still solid. In his three seasons behind centre, his completion percentage is a combined 63.8 percent, and his overall passer rating sits at 85.0. He’s thrown for over 11,000 yards (11,770) while tossing 58 touchdowns.

That’s the good but the bad and ugly is that he’s had difficulty securing the football and seems to force plays down the field at times. So far, Lawrence has tossed 39 interceptions in three NFL seasons while losing a combined 21 fumbles.

Those turnovers, you can argue, are why Lawrence's lost 39 games as an NFL starter in the regular season.

Where does Trevor Lawrence rank on PFF’s list of players under 25?

For a guy that many considered to be a disappointment at the end of 2023, PFF still has a lot of belief in the former Clemson quarterback. Lawrence is third on their list of top 25 NFL stars under that age.

The only people above him are Detroit Lions offensive tackle Penei Sewell and New York Jets standout cornerback Sauce Gardner.

Notable players below the Jaguars QB on PFF’s list

Outsiders undoubtedly raised a few eyebrows when PFF released this list, as there were some notable players that Lawrence ranked above.

Especially when considering recency bias, having Texans QB C.J. Stroud at No. 7 on this list is probably much lower than many would have put the No. 2 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. Many might also likely wonder why Aidan Hutchinson, Kyle Hamilton, and Ja’Marr Chase are below Lawrence on this list.

PFF’s assessment of Lawrence

PFF operates on analytics and statistics, and according to them, Lawrence had a better 2023 campaign than many may have known.

"Many might call Lawrence’s 2023 season a disappointment, especially considering preseason expectations. However, he earned the highest overall grade of his career in 2023 and, during the first part of the season, demonstrated why the Jaguars selected him with the first-overall pick three years ago. Lawrence’s 88.1 overall grade after 13 weeks last year ranked fifth among quarterbacks."

Although he only sat out of just one game in 2023, Lawrence was clearly not himself since the high ankle sprain suffered on Monday night against the Bengals.

Jacksonville went 1-5 down the stretch of the regular season, missing the playoffs for the fifth time in the last six seasons. That said, the Jags were positioned to become the No. 1 seed in the AFC with a victory in their Monday Night Football contest against the Bengals.

Why Lawrence deserves his PFF ranking

Everyone is entitled to their opinion and certainly some of the names mentioned before are definitely deserving of a place on that top 25 list. That includes Lawrence, who’s given the Jags a chance to win every night.

Yes, Lawrence has to be better in the red zone and his team needs to be better at finishing drives but given the fact they lost Christian Kirk down the stretch of last season and how poor the blocking was, for the Jags to even be in playoff contention was impressive.

In every one of their 2023 games except perhaps the loss to San Francisco, the Jags were in most of their encounters, thanks to some outstanding play from Lawrence.

Does he need to step it up next season? Of course, but individually, there’s more than enough data to back PFF’s ranking of Lawrence.

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