Trevor Lawrence led the Jacksonville Jaguars to their second-best regular season in franchise history in 2025 and finished fifth in voting for Most Valuable Player.
His teammate, defensive lineman Arik Armstead, believes the 2021 No. 1 pick has at long last catapulted himself into consideration among the signal-calling elite.
"100 percent, he should be in that conversation," Armstead told Good Morning Football on Friday. "The steps that he's taken this year to improve. A big area for me and what solidified it for me was that Denver game on the road. Denver coming in, an elite defense, one of the best defenses in the leagues, pass rush, blitzes, playmakers all over the field. They were sending pressure at him, they were throwing zero looks, they were rushing with four with some great guys. But down the stretch, he made plays, he figured it out, he figured out the blitzing concepts that were coming at him, he got the ball in playmakers' hands in a high-pressure situation. So I think that was a big game, going late in the season against Denver, and I think he showed a lot.
"I think he showed how elite he was in that game and really all season. He made phenomenal, highlight plays. I think the sky's just the limit for him. I think he's just scratching the surface. It's gonna be so important for him to get with our coordinator and our coaching staff and have that consistency, and I think he's gonna continue to get better and better."
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As Armstead mentioned, Jacksonville's Week 16 34-20 win over the Denver Broncos was unquestionably a highlight of Lawrence's season. Against the league's No. 3 defense in points allowed, Lawrence went 23 of 36 for 279 yards and three touchdowns, and he added another score with his legs. He achieved those numbers and keyed the Jags to victory despite being pressured on 48.8% of his dropbacks, the fourth-highest rate of his career, per Next Gen Stats.
His greatness wasn't limited to just that performance against the AFC's eventual top seed, though. The outing that caught Armstead's eye came on the heels of a 330-yard, five-TD obliteration of the New York Jets defense the week prior, and both contests were part of an eight-game winning streak to end the regular season during which Lawrence threw for 2,009 yards and accounted for 24 touchdowns versus six turnovers to help Jacksonville win the AFC South at 13-4.
However, one of the knocks against Lawrence remains consistency year in and year out. Five seasons into his career, Lawrence has delivered just two standout campaigns. He made his lone Pro Bowl in 2022 and seemingly flipped a switch toward the midway point of the 2025 season.
Plus, while head coach Liam Coen appears to have unlocked Lawrence's potential during their first year together, the league has seen this before. Lawrence awoke in his first season with Doug Pederson, only to regress from 2023-2024 as Jacksonville endured a two-year playoff drought.
The onus now will be on Lawrence to sustain his momentum under Coen, a mission made easier by the Jaguars stacking his wide receiver room with Brian Thomas Jr., Jakobi Meyers, Parker Washington and Travis Hunter.
Most conversations regarding elite quarterbacks heading into the 2026 season will likely dismiss Armstead's inclusion of Lawrence, but if the QB continues to stack success like he saw in the back half of his previous campaign, that could change in a hurry.