Trevor Lawrence drops in ESPN top players ranking

Lawrence shook off some early issues to head into the Playoff on a roll.

Brandon Rink - Assoc. Editor / Staff Writer - Friday, December 20 2019

ESPN revisited its top-50 players in college football and that meant some movement for the ACC's Tigers.

Trevor Lawrence topped the list preseason but dropped to fourth in this installment, behind Heisman finalists in Joe Burrow (LSU), who started the season unranked, and Chase Young (Ohio State) and Justin Fields (Ohio State).

"At the midpoint of the season, Lawrence had 14 TD passes and eight interceptions, and critics wondered what had gone wrong," ESPN said. "Turns out, he was just shaking off the rust. Through Clemson's final six games, Lawrence completed 76% of his throws, had an FBS-best 214.0 passer rating, tossed 20 touchdown passes and didn't have a turnover. That he has another season left before likely heading to the NFL is the worst nightmare for any opposing defense."

Isaiah Simmons vaulted 16 spots to No. 7, Travis Etienne fell five to No. 13 and Tee Higgins moved up one to No. 18.

Clemson and Ohio State each had four on the list, with LSU having five in the top-26 and Oklahoma having three in the top-30. Clemson, Ohio State and LSU each had four players in the top-20.

Preseason ranked players in Justyn Ross (10) and Xavier Thomas (21) didn't make the cut postseason.