
It didn't take long for the Trevor Lawrence haters to come out of the woodwork. Don't get me wrong, Lawrence deserves his fair share of criticism. However, there's a difference between analyzing his missteps and weaknesses while acknowledging the difficult situations he's been put in, versus just blaming everything on him when things are going south for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Even his most staunch detractors had to retreat a bit and pay him some respect after his performance in the win over the Kansas City Chiefs for Monday Night Football in Week 5. However, that didn't stop them from getting their jokes off about his slip six or his interception — one that featured a controversial no-call for defensive pass interference.
Leading a game-winning drive over the reigning AFC champions was an achievement that no one could deny, and on his birthday no less. While there was plenty of talk about Lawrence getting a statement victory for his team on his birthday, there's one important detail that went mostly unnoticed.
On that day, Trevor Lawrence turned just 26 years old. It's easy to forget how young he is, considering that this is his fifth year in the NFL, and he's been a household name for nearly a decade now as an elite college prospect.
For my NBA fans, 26 is old in basketball. If a player hasn't made it by then, they'll likely never make it. Football is a whole different story. Lawrence gets compared to Baker Mayfield a lot, a fellow first-overall pick who thrived under Liam Coen's offense. However, at 26, Mayfield lost his starting job for the Cleveland Browns, bouncing around the league before he eventually found his new home with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
You: "I'm only 35, I have my whole life ahead of me."
— Troy Johnson (@_troyjohnson) May 19, 2024
Sports Broadcaster: "Here comes the oldest player in the league. He's 32. A miracle."
Bo Nix, a rising second-year quarterback, turns 26 in February. Spencer Rattler turned 25 at the start of the season. Jayden Daniels, one of the NFL's premier young gunslingers, turns 25 in December. Sam Darnold is breaking out at 28. The same goes for Daniel Jones.
Not only is Lawrence still spry, but Coen is his fourth head coach in five years. He's playing in his third offensive system. That doesn't mean that he's immune to criticism by any means. But it's important to remember that he's far from a finished product. His comfort level in Coen's offense and his processing are still developing. After all, his frontal lobe had just fully formed.
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