After a pair of injury-marred seasons, 2025 suddenly turned into a make-or-break year for Trevor Lawrence. So far, the fifth-year quarterback has been solid, but the Jacksonville Jaguars surely expect more from him. The good news is that he's taking steps in the right direction.
Lawrence got off to a slow start to the 2025 season, completing around 55.0 percent of his throws and throwing three interceptions the first three weeks. However, he made strides in the 26-21 win over the San Francisco 49ers in Week 4.
Aside from completing 67.7 percent of his passes in Week 4, Lawrence didn't throw a single interception for the first time this year. Moreover, he made several plays with his legs, which kept the 49ers defense guessing. Rightly, head coach Liam Coen was pleased with his performance. And if that wasn't enough, Lawrence got a positive review for showing progress against the Niners.
Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence gets promising review after the 49ers game
Derrik Klassen of The Athletic took a look at several headlines across the league and analyzed Trevor Lawrence's play in Week 4, pointing out that he had a couple bad throws but otherwise "got the ball out quickly and efficiently," while making a pair of great anticipatory passes.
Later in his review, Klassen notes that Liam Coen is maximizing Lawrence's strengths this season, and it showed in Week 4. Here's the skinny:
Of Lawrence's 30 pass attempts this week, 21 came within the 10-yard area. That was completely by design," Klassen wrote. First, Coen understands that one of Lawrence's strengths as a passer is his timing. Lawrence is an efficient, explosive thrower on quick-game concepts, so crafting his dropbacks around that is a good way to keep the offense on schedule."
Klassen argues that it helped that Thomas ran more routes in the boundaries against the 49ers after several "frustrating moments over the middle" in previous weeks. The former LSU Tiger finished with five receptions for 49 yards.
Add it all up, and Lawrence played what's arguably been his best game this season.
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Trevor Lawrence must improve in the vertical element of the Jaguars offense
But as promising as Trevor Lawrence looked in Week 4, he must now take the next step. Derrik Klassen points out that Liam Coen's emphasis on quick-game concepts has led to a dip in the quarterback's average air yards per pass, going from 9.4 in 2024 to 7.2 this season. That leads him to say that the Jags will need to work on the vertical element of the offense if they want to reach their full potential.
"In order for the Jaguars' offense to reach its full potential, the vertical element has to find its footing at some point, as well. Lawrence is 1 of 10 on throws beyond 20 yards this season. (The only completion was the seam route Travis Hunter plucked out of the air on a contested seam route versus the 49ers)," Klassen wrote.
Before Week 4, Lawrence and Michael Penix were the only quarterbacks who hadn't completed a pass of 20 yards or more. It wasn't for a lack of trying, though. The former Clemson Tiger dialed up several deep shots but wasn't able to connect with his receivers. Speaking of, drops were an issue early in the season.
In the first three games, Jacksonville had a league-worst 13 games. It didn't register any against the 49ers. Coincidentally, Lawrence performed well.
Ideally, Trevor Lawrence would be playing like a top-10 quarterback already, but progress isn't sudden. For the moment, though, the Jaguars seem to be pleased with his growth under Liam Coen and would surely love to see him take another step against the Kansas City Chiefs.
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