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Jaguars’ Trevor Lawrence Ranked 15th-Best QB of 2023
It is hard to find many national analysts singing Trevor Lawrence’s or the Jacksonville Jaguars’ praises this offseason, for obvious reasons. The Jaguars blew an 8-3 record thanks to a 1-5 losing stretch in the final month-and-a-half, with much of the criticism and blame being placed on Lawrence’s shoulders as the quarterback. This is reflected in an NFL.com ranking of all 66 quarterbacks who started games in 2023, with Lawrence coming in at No. 15. This puts Lawrence behind names like Joe Flacco (?) and Baker Mayfield. While it feels like some overcorrection
on Lawrence, that is what happens when a team has the most high-profile collapse of any squad that season. “I can explain Lawrence’s 2023 season in one word: Almost. A campaign full of near-misses – either on his part or his teammates’ – defined the experience leading up to the team’s late-season collapse,” NFL.com wrote. “By that point, Lawrence was playing through two or three injuries and couldn’t be the same quarterback. And before then, something was just slightly off in Jacksonville’s offensive operation. Lawrence had some really great moments, but in totality, it wasn’t consistent enough to elevate the Jaguars to the place we thought they’d reach. For Lawrence and
the Jaguars, it’s back to the drawing board now, but don’t worry, his potential remains sky high.” Lawrence finished the season completing 65.6% of his passes for 4,016 yards, 21 touchdowns and 14 interceptions, along with seven lost fumbles. Lawrence also missed his first career start as he dealt with four different injuries, with Lawrence seemingly having to limp to the finish of the season.
After making it through his first two seasons with minimal injury scares, Lawrence was legitimately walking wounded for much of 2023. Lawrence sustained four different injuries this fall that forced him to miss valuable practice time and play in several games with injuries: a knee injury in Week 6, an ankle injury in Week 13, a concussion in Week 15, and then finally a shoulder injury in Week 16 that forced him to miss his first-career start.
The injuries stacked up during the Jaguars’ six-game stretch that saw them go 1-5 and miss the playoffs. The injuries led to Lawrence missing his first career start, which went on to be the Jaguars’ only win of the stretch. And among Lawrence’s 16 starts, his four starts after each injury saw Lawrence have his 2nd, 5th, 7th, and 8th worst games of the season by total EPA.
