Jaguars rookie QB Trevor Lawrence finally moving in the right direction

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence hasn’t been quite as good as advertised during his rookie season, but he’s finally trending in the right direction. 

It took rookie quarterback Trevor Lawrence until Week 6 to find the first win of his NFL career. This isn’t completely unexpected. Still, having more losses in the first quarter of your first NFL season than you had in high school and college combined can be a bit disheartening.

By most accounts, Trevor Lawrence was one of the best quarterback recruits to ever come out of high school, and nobody was surprised to see him dominate at a young age for the Clemson Tigers.

However, the start to his NFL career was less than spectacular. Through the first five weeks of the season, Lawrence and the Jaguars were winless as the rookie quarterback threw for 6 touchdowns and 8 interceptions during this stretch. In addition, his passer rating was among the very lowest in the league, according to Pro Football Reference.

Fortunately, Lawrence was finally able to start turning things around. In Week 6 against the Maimi Dolphins in London, the first overall pick completed 25 of 41 passes for 319 yards and a touchdown. Remarkably, it was the first time as a professional that Lawrence had thrown a touchdown without also throwing for at least one interception. This helped lead Jacksonville to their first win of the season.

How the Jaguars rookie QB has improved

Trevor Lawrence still has a plethora of things he needs to work on, but most will come in time. However, there are certainly areas in which he has made strides this year.

For starters, his passer rating has improved tremendously. Over the first three games of the 2021 season, the Jaguars quarterback posted passer ratings of 70.1, 37.2, and 68.1, respectively. Since then, however, Lawernce has had three straight games of a passer rating over 92.0 — a drastic improvement.

Additionally, the rookie quarterback has cut down on many of his bad decisions. Instead of unnecessarily forcing the ball into a tight window, Lawrence has been much more careful. Seven of his eight interceptions came in the first three weeks of the season.

One of the biggest improvements, however, is that Lawrence’s yards per attempt have skyrocketed in recent weeks. Through the first three weeks, the rookie averaged just 5.6 yards per attempt. Over his final three contests, that number jumped all the way up to 8.1 yards per attempt.

At this rate, Lawrence could really turn things around in a hurry, and if his numbers continue to trend this way, there’s little doubt that he will. The Jaguars will go back to the drawing board during their Week 7 bye before playing a winnable game against a Seahawks team without Russell Wilson in Week 8.