A Tale of Two Quarterbacks
Justin Fields and Trevor Lawrence have been intertwined since high school - now is the time for one of the young stars to finally break free
The Golden Boy
Trevor Lawrence has been anticipating his moment since his sophomore year of high school. The long-haired QB from Knoxville, Tennessee grew up as the chosen one. Lawrence was considered a golden boy from his Pop Warner days, but never let the pressure get to him. Lawrence attended high school in Cartersville, Georgia—where he would take over the football world. He deservedly began to pick up hype in his sophomore year, where he won a state championship while throwing 43 touchdowns. His junior year was even better, as he won the AJC player of the year award after throwing for 51 touchdowns and just short of 4,000 yards on the way to his second consecutive state championship. In his senior year, Lawrence broke the state record for passing yards and passing touchdowns, previously held by Deshaun Watson. Lawrence was regarded as one of the best high school QB prospects of all time, and was ranked the No. 1 QB and player in the entire country by 247Sports and Rivals, the first player to do so since 1985. On December 16, 2016, Trevor Lawrence committed to Clemson.
Mr. Georgia
Justin Fields has been anticipating his moment since his junior year of high school. Justin Fields grew up as the most athletic kid in his town of Kennesaw, Georgia. In Fields’ last two years in high school, he averaged 1,000 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns per game. After a season-ending injury in his senior year, he won the Mr. Georgia Football award.
Fields was regarded as one of the best rushing high school QBs of all time, and was ranked the No. 1 QB and player in the entire country by ESPN. By 247Sports and Rivals, he was the No. 2 prospect in the country—just behind Trevor Lawrence. In October of 2017, Justin Fields committed to Georgia.
College
Lawrence started his freshman year of college on the bench, but took the starting spot within just four games of the season. In 2018, Lawrence led Clemson to an undefeated regular season, the ACC Championship title, and the No. 2 seed in the CFP. Clemson stormed their way to the natty, where Lawrence handed Nick Saban the worst loss of his career at Alabama. Lawrence threw for 347 yards and 3 TDs as an underdog. Unsurprisingly, Lawrence finished as National Freshman of the Year.
In his sophomore year, Lawrence went undefeated once again, bringing the Tigers back to the National Championship before losing to a kid named Joe Burrow. This was only Trevor Lawrence’s second loss since his freshman year of high school.
In his final season, Lawrence won his third ACC Championship Game, before exiting the CFP in the first round.
Lawrence finished his college career with 10,098 yards, 90 TDs, and just two losses.
Justin Fields took a bit of a different route.
Fields saw limited action during his freshman year at Georgia, throwing for just four touchdowns. Drama followed the quarterback off the field, when a Georgia baseball player called Justin Fields a racial slur. Frustrated by life at Georgia, and maybe motivated to catch up with his championship-winning rival, Fields transferred to Ohio State.
In his sophomore year, Fields led the Buckeyes to an undefeated season, a Big Ten Championship and a spot in the CFP. In his first playoff game, Fields narrowly lost to Trevor Lawrence’s Clemson.
Fields went undefeated during the 2020 season, leading to another bid in the CFP. His opponent? Trevor Lawrence’s Clemson again. By this point in his career, Fields had grown tired of hearing about Trevor Lawrence. Lawrence was the greatest high school QB ever, Lawrence was the greatest college football player ever, Lawrence is going to make NFL history, the list went on and on. As for Fields? Well, he was just another Black QB who could run fast. There were many before him, and there would be many after. This was an opinion that was echoed by the media, fans, and even teammates.
With all of that for motivation, it’s hard not to play like you have something to prove. And prove he did. Fields threw for 385 passing yards and 6 touchdowns, all of which after taking a rib-cracking hit early in the game.
“I just think everybody doubting us just pushed us a little more. I prepared for this game like I’ve never prepared for a game before.”
Ohio State went on to lose to Alabama in the National Championship, 52-24. Justin Fields would finish his college career with 5,701 passing yards, 67 TDs, 19 rushing TDs, and just two losses.
The NFL Draft
As mentioned earlier, Trevor Lawrence was considered the greatest college football prospect since Andrew Luck, and some even thought he was the best since Peyton Manning. As the 2020 Jaguars raced to the bottom, “Tank For Trevor” was a common expression. On April 29, 2021, the consensus best player in the draft was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Despite the obvious parallels between the two QBs, Justin Fields was not quite in the same conversations. Heading into the 2021 draft, Fields found himself in a familiar spot—the number two prospect, just behind the elusive Trevor Lawrence. However, as time progressed something shifted—Fields began sliding down NFL draft rankings. All of a sudden, prospects that were considered lacking compared to Fields, began to overtake him. First it was the baby-faced Zach Wilson, then the raw project of Trey Lance, not to mention the non-QB prospects that overtook him in consensus value.
The result? Justin Fields slid down to 11th overall, being picked up by Chicago—where QBs go to die.
Year 1
The so-called savior of football struggled during his rookie season. His NFL debut was quite indicative of how his season would go: he finished with 332 passing yards, 3 TDs, and 3 INTs in a loss against the Texans.
It would take Lawrence 6 games to earn his first NFL win - a 23-20 nailbiting win against the Dolphins in London, where Lawrence threw 25/41, 319 yards, and 1 TD. However, in the 4 game stretch in between, Lawrence threw for an average of just 203 yards per game, while throwing 5 picks and 3 TDs.
Things didn’t improve too much throughout the rest of the season—Lawrence picked up only 2 more wins, including a jaw-dropping rout of the Colts in Week 18 to keep them out of the playoffs.
The Jaguars’ failings certainly did not rest all on Lawrence’s shoulders—although he did finish the year with a league leading 17 interceptions, vs just 12 touchdowns. The 2021 Jags spent most of the season with Urban Meyer as a HC, who became the laughingstock of the NFL after skipping the team flight to cheat on his wife, and then repeatedly kicking Jaguars K Josh Lambo. Additionally, no running back broke 800 rushing yards, and Marvin Jones led the team with just 832 receiving yards. The Jaguars easily had a bottom five defense in football, and this team was so embarrassing that Jags fans showed up in Week 18 with clown masks.
Justin Fields didn’t fare much better. He entered the season on the bench behind Andy Dalton, although he did debut in Week 1 with a 5 yard rushing touchdown.
When Dalton was sidelined with a knee injury during a Week 2 against the Bengals, Fields was thrown into the starting position—he went 6/13 for 60 yards and 1 interception—and managed to hang on for a 20-17 win. His first full game as a starter came in Week 3, where he was sacked nine times, threw 6/20 with 68 yards, and lost by 20 points.
Fields may have had even more of an up-and-down season than Lawrence. A high note was his back to back wins in Weeks 4 and 5, or his career high 291 yard passing performance in primetime against a valiant Steelers defense. However, the lows were bad - Fields threw 3 interceptions and lost 2 fumbles in a 38-3 loss to the Buccaneers. Fields only threw 7 TDs in 10 starts, finished with a QBR of 26.4 (50 is average), and was one of the most turnover-prone QBs in the league.
However, just like Trevor Lawrence, Fields’ struggles as QB were not entirely his fault. Fields had the second most sacks per start in the entire NFL, as the Bears had arguably the most porous offensive line in the NFL. The infamous QB ruiner, Matt Nagy, was his head coach, and he would be fired in the offseason.
The narratives surrounding Fields and Lawrence following 2021 could be summarized with one word - disappointment.
Year 2
The Prince Who was Promised (that’s his actual nickname on Pro Football Reference) went into 2022 with a revamped roster. Lawrence had an actual HC in Doug Pederson, plus various additions on offense, including Travis Etienne, Zay Jones, Christian Kirk, Even Engram, and Brandon Scherff.
Lawrence got off to a great start, going 2-1 in his first three games with back-to-back wins in Weeks 2 and 3—Lawrence threw for 497 yards and 5 TDs.
Afterwards, the Jags lost five straight, with Lawrence throwing for five TDs and five interceptions, while having two games with 0 TDs. By the time they reached their Week 11 bye, the Jaguars sat at an unimpressive 3-7 record.
But the man with the long golden hair was no stranger to adversity. The Jaguars won six of their next seven games, including two stunning comeback victories against the Ravens and the Cowboys. Against Dallas, Lawrence had an unbelievable game, with 318 yards and 4 TDs in a thrilling overtime win, after facing a 17 point deficit in the third quarter. Over this incredible stretch, Lawrence had 1,779 yards, 12 TDs, and just 2 interceptions. Lawrence transformed a Jacksonville team whose season was practically over into a division winning upstart in the AFC.
In Lawrence’s first playoff game against the Charges, Lawrence did his best Nathan Peterman impression by throwing 3 INTs in the first quarter, and 4 in total during the first half. The Jags were down 27-7 at halftime, and they looked like a JV team compared to the Bolts. But much like the Jaguars season, the second half was a completely different story. Lawrence went 18/23, 211 yards, and 3 TDs, storming past the Chargers on his way to a 31-30 victory.
In the Divisional Round against the Chiefs, Lawrence had a valiant performance in a 27-20 loss, going 24/39 with 217 yards, 1 TD, and 1 INT. A few weeks later, Lawrence earned his first career Pro Bowl invitation.
Trevor Lawrence made historical strides between his rookie and sophomore seasons. His completion percentage jumped up almost 7%, his TD-INT ratio went from 12:17 to 25:8, and he threw for 500 extra yards on the year.
Justin Fields saw remarkable improvement as well, although it was vastly limited by his supporting cast. Fields got a new HC in Matt Eberflus, but nothing in the way of offensive line improvement—he was the most sacked QB in the NFL, in just 15 games. Additionally, the only receiving help he gained was a midseason trade for Chase Claypool. Unsurprisingly, Chicago slumped to a 3-14 finish.
In contrast, Fields more than doubled his touchdown total from 2021, and saw his QBR shoot up to 54.0. However, it’s not through the air that Justin Fields made his greatest impact, but on the ground.
In Week 9 against Miami, Justin Fields ran for 178 yards, shattering Michael Vick’s single-game record for quarterback rushing yards. The next game? He ran for 147 and 2 TDs, including a scorcher of a 67 yard TD. Justin Fields became the first QB in history to run for 140 yards in consecutive games. Week after week highlight after highlight, Justin Fields was shocking everyone with his rushing capabilities.
Fields finished the year with 1,143 rushing yards, leading the league in QB rushing yards, and finishing 7th in the NFL in rushing yards among all players. Fields had the 2nd most rushing yards in a single season (behind Lamar Jackson), and joined Vick and Jackson as the only QBs to record 1,000 yards in one season.
Year 3 and Onward…
I would be lying if I said I knew exactly how both Fields and Lawrence will perform in this upcoming season. However, as generational Georgia high schoolers, championship winning college studs, and generation-defining NFL QBs, it’s clear that Fields and Lawrence have always been intertwined. For both quarterbacks, expectations are high heading into the 2023 season—this is a make or break year.
Both Fields and Lawrence have legacies to define, generations to inspire, and records to shatter. The only question: will they be up to the task?