JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Last week, we analyzed Trevor Lawrence and his performance in a variety of situations. One area that I wanted to bring further under the microscope was Lawrence’s success across different areas of the field.
Last season, Lawrence and the Jaguars strayed from the middle of the field, tending to throw outbreaking routes instead. The team’s favorite routes, hitches and outs, made up 44% of the team’s targets.
The avoidance of the middle of the field and propensity to attack deep down the field were the bread and butter of the Jaguars’ offense in 2024, at least with Trevor Lawrence under center.
The question is whether this style of offense suits him and what Liam Coen can do to help the Jaguars’ franchise QB further develop.
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For this study, the field was broken down into 12 sections, four ranges of depth and three for directionality. The four depth ranges included behind the line of scrimmage, 0-10 yards, 10-20 yards, and 20 or more yards downfield.
With back-to-back seasons plagued with injury, it only felt right to include each of the last two seasons to get a better understanding and a larger sample size of Trevor Lawrence. All data used in this study was provided by Pro Football Focus.
RESULTS
While Trevor Lawrence has struggled in the short and intermediate areas of the field, he actually did well over the middle in the short game, all things considered.
When combining throws behind the line of scrimmage and less than 10 yards downfield, Lawrence completed 84% of his passes for 1,655 yards and six touchdowns. Three interceptions do hurt his numbers, however.
Throwing to the side of the field did not elicit the same results in the short area. Lawrence’s completion rate was still solid, sitting at 78%, however, Lawrence logged just two touchdowns compared to four interceptions. Two of those turnovers came behind the line of scrimmage.
To be fair to Lawrence, neither of those two interceptions were his fault. Nonetheless, it speaks poorly of the offense as a whole. Of the six sections already covered, Lawrence’s NFL Ratings scored average and below average in three.
The intermediate, specifically over the middle of the field, has plagued Lawrence and the Jaguars. In this section, Lawrence had an NFL Rating of just 39.72. For reference, that is statistically comparable to spiking the ball every single play.
Lawrence completed 26 of 59 for 433 yards, one touchdown, and five interceptions. When looking toward the outside, it was a bit prettier as Lawrence had an NFL Rating of 92.05 on the left side of the field and 70.8 on the right side.
Even so, the numbers are still average at best and dreadful at worst. You never want to be comparable to spiking the ball in the dirt.
Across the board, Lawrence was actually incredibly consistent to both sides of the field. When targeting the left side of the field, Lawrence completed 63.2% of his passes. That figure is nearly identical to his 63.3% completion rate to the right side.
Some quarterbacks struggle to throw to their non-dominant side, however, Lawrence doesn’t seem to be included. He is a pretty well-balanced quarterback in that facet of the game.
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His completion percentage rose to 75% over the middle of the field, however, with it comes turnover concerns. Of Lawrence’s 21 interceptions over the last two seasons, 12 came over the middle of the field.
This is likely why Lawrence and the offense have shied away from that area of the field.
MOVING FORWARD
If Lawrence and the Jaguars want to take that next step next season, this is the key area the team simply has to improve in. Being average to below average in every area of the field under 20 yards downfield simply isn’t good enough.
Luckily, Lawrence has the hard parts down. Whether it was on the left side, down the middle, or on the right, Lawrence was above average in all three areas throwing 20 or more yards down the field.
Deep down the sidelines, Lawrence was especially deadly, pitching 12 touchdowns to just two interceptions and over 1,100 yards. With Brian Thomas Jr primed for elite ascension, Lawrence’s threatening deep ball shouldn’t be going anywhere.
It’s the seemingly easy stuff that needs to be cleaned up. Baker Mayfield led the NFL in yards gained behind the line of scrimmage last season and it’s something I expect to take shape here in Jacksonville with new head coach Liam Coen.
It’s more than just Lawrence that needs to improve. Receivers have to help Lawrence. Making plays on contested catch opportunities, creating yards after the catch, not tipping the ball into the air for free turnovers.
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The Jaguars running backs can certainly go a long way in helping that as well. Bigsby has had his fair share of inopportune turnovers off of receptions that have held the offense and its short game back.
All of these have been devastating for the Jacksonville offense in years past. It’s on Liam Coen and offensive coordinator Grant Udisnki to turn things around and finally build an offense made for Lawrence and company.
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