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Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars clinched the AFC South division title and are now headed to the NFL Playoffs.
With their recent 20-16 victory over the Tennessee Titans, the Jags finished the regular season with a 9-8 record, and this will be the franchise’s first trip to the playoffs since 2017.
Lawrence, now in his second season in the league, is blossoming into one of the league’s top quarterbacks. Jacksonville fans are certainly excited to have him on board, but he very well could’ve been a member of the New York Jets instead.
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Back in 2020, the Jets were all set to finish with the league’s worst record and land the top pick in the draft. The team did a fabulous tanking job as they started the 0-13 season. However, they picked up back-to-back wins against the Los Angeles Rams and Cleveland Browns before finishing the year with a loss to the New England Patriots. New York ended up with a 2-14 record.
The Jaguars finished 1-15 and received the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. They selected Lawrence, while the Jets took fellow quarterback Zach Wilson second overall.
Wilson is looking like a major bust right now, and Lawrence appears to be a future superstar. It is possible, though, that Wilson may become a star for another team down the road. He's only 23 years old. Sometimes it takes a few years for a player to make an impact.
Should the New York Jets have done a better job tanking to land Trevor Lawrence?
Surely, the Jets regret losing those two games in 2020 and failing to draft Lawrence. The team finished 7-10 this season, missing the playoffs for the 12th straight year while Lawrence, of course, is headed to the postseason.
This season, the Jets have started three different quarterbacks: Wilson, Mike White, and Joe Flacco. It doesn’t look like any of those guys are the team’s long-term answer to the position.
Lawrence, however, definitely could have been the solution. The former Clemson star has been excellent this season, throwing for 4,113 yards, 25 touchdowns, and eight interceptions. Those are much better numbers than his rookie stats from a year ago (3,641 passing yards, 12 touchdowns, and 17 interceptions).
Would the Jets be a playoff team right now if Lawrence had ended up in New York instead of Jacksonville? No one knows the answer to that. All we do know is that the Jags are happy they received the top pick in the 2021 draft.
