How Trevor Lawrence is pushing the envelope in the Jaguars’ new offense
Trevor Lawrence was in an untenable situation last season.
Lawrence found himself in a chaotic environment, filled with personnel breakdowns, miscommunications and mistakes. Then he stepped onto the field and tried to make throws from collapsing pockets in the direction of receivers who at times let him down at the catch point.
Perhaps his luck is about to change.
He now finds himself under the guidance of an offensive-minded head coach with an actual record of quarterback development. Say what you want about Carson Wentz, but during the 2017 campaign, coming in his second NFL season, Doug Pederson had Wentz playing at a near-MVP level before his knee injury.
Now Pederson brings that record to Jacksonville, to try and bring about the same second-year leap for Lawrence.
Early returns are perhaps a bit mixed. Lawrence completed 6 of 12 passes for 95 yards and a touchdown in his first preseason action, in a loss to the Cleveland Browns. As noted by Laurie Fitzpatrick in a great piece breaking down that performance, “we saw concepts from Pederson and his staff that were far more beneficial to Lawrence than anything Urban Meyer’s crew gave him in the Jaguars’ disastrous 2021 season.”
That continued against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Lawrence finished 14 of 21 in that game for 133 yards, and beyond the concepts dialed up by the coaching staff, you also saw his ability to drive the football into downfield windows at a high level.
Particularly when attacking outside.
One of the concepts that the Jaguars have implemented this season pairs a Mesh concept underneath, with a two-man Flood concept on the outside. That gives Lawrence the ability to work the crossing routes underneath, or turn outside as a three-level stretch eventually develops. The go route along the boundary is the vertical stretch, the shallow crosser works across the field to be the underneath “bait,” and the deep out route becomes the intended target for Lawrence:
On this example, Lawrence sees the Steelers drop into a soft Cover 3 on third-and-long, so he takes the shallow crosser from Marvin Jones working from left-to-right:
Latere in the game, Pederson returned to that design. Now you get a chance to see Lawrence attack deeper downfield, as he throws the out route to Christian Kirk:
Pittsburgh spins into Cover 2 at the snap for this 3rd and 9 play, and the safety has to respect the vertical threat posed by Zay Jones along the boundary. That opens a window for Kirk on the deep out route, and Lawrence lets it rip, delivering a strike that comes on-time and in-rhythm on the out route.
While this throw is a good example of Lawrence’s ability to attack outside, this completion to Marvin Jones is an even better example. He will break towards the left side of the field on this 2nd and 7 play, as the Steelers drop into Cover 3. The curl/flat defender does a good job at sinking under Jones’ route, while the cornerback stays over the top of his pattern. Lawrence has to navigate three defenders — the cornerback, the curl/flat defender and the sideline — and he does so to perfection:
This is a difficult throw to layer, and inches do matter. If Lawrence leaves this throw three inches closer to the ground, it likely goes the other way for six points. Instead, the Jaguars have a fresh set of downs.
When you hear the phrases “layering a throw,” or “arm talent,” think of this play.
But perhaps his best throw of the night came a little later in the second quarter. If you want to see a prime example of a quarterback trusting his eyes and throwing with anticipation, look no further than this out route to Kirk along the left side of the field:
Pre-snap, Lawrence sees the cornerback over Kirk playing with inside leverage. His eyes come right to that route as the play unfolds, and he lets this go before Kirk even gets into his break. As the receiver makes his cut and works his eyes back to the quarterback, the ball is already in flight:
When a young quarterback is making anticipation throws like this one, you can start to believe the game is slowing down for them.
That looks to be the case for Lawrence.
The second-year quarterback is in a much-improved situation from last year. He has a head coach with a proven record of quarterback development. He is handling concepts that are putting him in a position to be successful.
Whether Lawrence indeed takes the kind of second-year leap we saw from Wentz under Pederson remains to be seen. But the potential is there.
Which, after last season, must seem enticing to Jaguars fans.
