For all the hype he received before the season, Trevor Lawrence has not lived up to his freshman numbers from 2018. Despite being 5-0, the Clemson Tigers have dropped in its average of points per game (38) from last year (44.3 ppg) and Lawrence is having trouble with interceptions.
The golden arm from Georgia had just four picks all of last season; however, he has thrown five through five games – including two interceptions each versus Georgia Tech and Syracuse.
Lawrence barely completed 60 percent (18-for-30) of his passes versus North Carolina and for someone who started off as a preseason Heisman contender, he and the Tigers almost lost to a coach (Mack Brown) who has not been on the sideline in six years. While he is struggling, his counterpart – Tua Tagovailoa – is shattering records and having an incredible year at Alabama.
RELATED: Alabama 2020 NFL Draft projections
Not only has the junior from Hawaii improved from his sophomore campaign, having Steve Sarkisian calling plays has made Tagovailoa even better. Prior to him, it was not normal for the Crimson Tide to have a quarterback average at least 300 yards passing a game. The Heisman runner-up and All-American from 2018 has completely changed the narrative, as he totals 343.6 passing yards per contest and boasts a quarterback rating of 96.2 — which is second in FBS.
Tagovailoa is pushing an offense that averages 51.8 points/game, while he has yet to throw an interception in five matchups.
The 6-foot-1, 215-pounder is completing 76.4% (113-for-148) of his attempts for 1,718 yards with 23 scoring passes. According to Ian Wharton, a scout from NFL Film Study, Tagovailoa’s passing chart is head and shoulders above Lawrence’s thus far.
Tua Tagovailoa’s passing chart compared to Trevor Lawrence’s through 5 weeks. Tua’s is straight silly, 90% accurate on intermediate passes and 76% beyond the line of scrimmage. Lawrence’s is much worse than 2018. Down 7% on short, 14% on intermediate, 11% overall comparatively pic.twitter.com/oittpvMYUp
— Ian Wharton (@NFLFilmStudy) October 4, 2019
From the information gathered, the Tide’s signal caller is 90% accurate on intermediate passes and 76% accurate beyond the line of scrimmage.
Lawrence, on the other hand, has graded out poor percentages on short throws (Down 7% from 2018), intermediate passes (Down 14% from 2018) and overall accuracy (Down 11% from 2018) compared to Tagovailoa.
If Wake Forest, who is No. 22 in the nation, was to lose, Clemson would go the rest of the campaign without playing a ranked opponent. National media still recognizes the Tigers as a College Football Playoff contender; however, Lawrence’s numbers in the passing game gives defensive fronts and opposing secondaries confidence to victimize him down the stretch.
He was viewed to potentially be a better pro prospect than Tagovailoa at quarterback, but Alabama’s golden boy is on a mission. About half the teams in the NFL are need of a trigger man and most have already started tanking to land the former five-star.
At this point, Tagovailoa is showing the masses that he is far and away better than Lawrence.
*Get the BEST Alabama football insider information, message board access, and recruiting coverage today! SIGN UP HERE to unlock our subscriber only content!*
Stephen M. Smith is the managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
