What if the Jacksonville Jaguars don't draft Trevor Lawrence?
It'd be in an alternate universe, but what if the Jaguars don't draft Trevor Lawrence?
Via their 41-17 loss to the Chicago Bears on Sunday, and the New York Jets beating the Cleveland Browns for their second win of the season, the Jacksonville Jaguars have clinched the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. In Week 17 they can make it a full-on tank with their 15th straight loss. Coincidentally their opponent will be the Indianapolis Colts, who they beat 27-20 way back in Week 1.
Whoever got the No. 1 pick in April (the Jets for longest time felt like a lock), it’s been a foregone conclusion they’d take Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence. The gap between Lawrence and the rest of the 2021 quarterback class (Justin Fields, Zach Wilson, Trey Lance, Kyle Trask, etc.) is considered wide. For most people this side of Trent Dilfer anyway.
But what if… the Jaguars don’t draft Lawrence?
Reports on Sunday morning attached Urban Meyer to possible NFL head coaching openings. The Jaguars are an easy top NFL landing spot for the current FOX college football analyst, due to his successful time as head coach at the University of Florida. His proximity to the college game as an analyst gives him knowledge about the incoming quarterback draft class. And based on the NFL pipelines he built at Florida and Ohio State, Meyer knows pro-caliber talent. Maybe he likes another quarterback better than Lawrence? If the Jaguars want to hire him as head coach of course, and if he wants the job. But rumors attaching someone of Meyer’s profile to job openings don’t get out by accident, and it has felt inevitable he will return to coaching when or if the right job is available.
Mind you, there’s like a 0.3 percent chance the Jaguars don’t take Lawrence first overall in April. Only a significant injury in the College Football Playoff would realistically change that. But there is a scenario where they consider other options (no, they shouldn’t trade the pick), and a virtual slam-dunk as everyone sees it right now could quickly become not so.