Trevor Lawrence is the rare quarterback two respected lists can’t agree on. Pro Football Network slotted him 97th among its top 100 players, the lowest-ranked quarterback on the board. NFL players put him 62nd. That’s a 35-spot chasm on the same passer, and PFN’s Ian Cummings has a read on who’s closer to right.
Why PFN Ranked Trevor Lawrence as Its Lowest Quarterback
The split starts with the numbers. By PFN’s QB Impact metric, Lawrence graded as the 14th-best quarterback in the league with a 77.5 score, and Cummings pointed to an EPA per dropback of 0.1 that ranked 15th. Those are middle-of-the-pack marks for a player taken first overall and paid like a franchise cornerstone.
The full-season picture got dragged down by a brutal start. Lawrence threw 11 interceptions through his first 11 games before the season turned. Then it flipped hard.
“Over the final six games of the season, T Law caught fire,” Cummings said.
That finish was the best stretch of his career. Across those six games Lawrence posted a 15-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio and won every one, a run that helped him close the season with 4,007 passing yards, 29 touchdown passes, and nine rushing scores.
The centerpiece was a Week 15 demolition of the Jets, a career-high five touchdown passes plus a sixth on the ground in a 48-20 rout, making him the first player in NFL history with five passing scores, a rushing score, and 50-plus rushing yards in a single game. His 34-20 road win over Denver’s top-five defense belonged on the same highlight reel.
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By PFN’s own accounting, that six-game surge averaged an 80.4 QB Impact, which stretched over a full season would land in top-10 territory. Cummings also flagged a mitigating detail buried in the raw stats. Per PFN, Lawrence’s receivers dropped a league-high 8.3% of his passes, nearly double the 4.4% league average.
The Case for Trevor Lawrence’s Climb Toward the Top 50
Cummings lands on the players’ side, and his reasoning is about context the metrics don’t capture.
“The case on the NFL side is that T Law has never had a fully unobstructed year to become his peak potential,” Cummings said. “But I think we’re working towards that. He’s the best blocking, the best weapons, the best coaching of his career so far in Jacksonville.”
That coaching is first-year Jaguars boss Liam Coen, whose scheme clicked once Lawrence settled into the pre-snap operation. A 13-4 record and an AFC South title followed, along with an MVP finalist nod.
“I’m of the mind that the advanced metrics don’t quite quantify how good he can be, and that’s why I slightly lean the NFL side, even though I can see the PFN side,” Cummings said.
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The two lists are really arguing about timing. PFN graded the season that actually happened, interceptions and all. The players voted on the quarterback they saw in December, the one who looked like the No. 1 pick again. Both readings can be true at once.
“Ultimately, I think if he can play up to his potential in 2026, we’re looking at him being a consensus top 50 player next year,” Cummings said. The tiebreaker comes with a full season in Coen’s offense to settle which Trevor Lawrence is the real one.
