CLEMSON in the NFL

Trevor Lawrence is ranked as the No. 6 QB in the NFL now by NBC analyst Chris Simms. (Photo: Kirby Lee / USATODAY)
Trevor Lawrence is ranked as the No. 6 QB in the NFL now by NBC analyst Chris Simms. (Photo: Kirby Lee / USATODAY)

Trevor Lawrence vaults up NFL QB ranking, deemed 'on the verge of superstardom'


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Trevor Lawrence's season took a turn in his sophomore NFL campaign, which resulted in a first career AFC Playoffs bid and eventually a trip to the Pro Bowl games.

Now a couple of years removed from being the No. 1 overall pick, Lawrence is vaulting up the NFL quarterback rankings, including from NBC sports analyst Chris Simms, who moved Lawrence up from 24th last year to sixth going into the 2023 campaign.

"It was like you got a new Trevor Lawrence," Simms said of Lawrence's midseason shift. "I think if I was going to have a headline on Trevor Lawrence, I'd start with an '(expletive) specimen who has it all and it's clicking.' It's here. It's pretty remarkable."

Lawrence's play quickly matched or surpassed QB peers who have been regarded among the best in the game.

"You turn on Trevor Lawrence and go, 'Whoa, holy cow. (Aaron) Rodgers' arm is strong but it ain't as strong as Trevor Lawrence's any more,'" Simms said. "Trevor Lawrence's arm went to another level this year. I mean the control of his fastball, that's where it went to another level. He's great size. He's a really good athlete, but the throwing went to a different stratosphere halfway through the year...It's a game-changing arm. There are throws he makes in the last 10 weeks of the year where you go, 'That's only for the (Justin) Herberts and (Josh) Allens and (Patrick) Mahomes. Those are the only guys who can make those type of throws.' And it starts to become commonplace in almost every game, where you start to go, there's five or six in that game I went, 'Ooh.'

"It went far behind all of the physical specimen stuff and got into the real quarterbacking stuff and clutchness and carrying the team, and that's where we're on the verge of superstardom with Trevor Lawrence."

Going into year two in Doug Pederson's offense, Lawrence recently told ESPN that he likes the vibe of this offseason and focusing on improvement.

"It was definitely a different feel in this offseason, being able to unwind a little bit and then disconnect," Lawrence told ESPN recently. "My rookie year didn't really have an offseason going into the league...To have the same staff, to have a lot of the same players, to have that carryover, and the system [being the same], that feels good having that and being able to focus on little parts of my game instead of just making sure I got the installs and know the plan coming into practice. Not having that stress of just learning the playbook, I can just really focus on my game and my mechanics."

Former Clemson QB Deshaun Watson checked in at No. 9 with the Cleveland Browns on Simms' 40-QB countdown last week.

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