7 Teams to Bet on Landing NFL Quarterback Trevor Lawrence

On September 12th, Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence has made it clear that he intends to enter the 2021 NFL Draft. 

With that said, the NFL world prepares to heavily scout the quarterback who is arguably the draft’s most coveted prospect. 

We all know Lawrence is arguably the best prospect in the upcoming draft. As of Friday, October 2nd, Bovada projected Trevor Lawrence at -280 odds to be the first pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. 

And while the following teams may or may not land the top pick, they can always trade a king’s ransom to snag the once-in-a-generation player from Clemson who at this time has lost just one college football game.

The player he lost to?

Cincinnati Bengals’ quarterback Joe Burrow, quite an impressive resume for Lawrence. 

Below are seven teams that are the best bets to land the star from Clemson.

1 – New York Jets

Other than one big play to receiver Jamison Crowder, Jets’ quarterback Sam Darnold had one of the worst games of his career. Most of his passing yards came in garbage time, and he looked like a quarterback who was quickly running out of chances as he enters his third season.

On the flip side, fellow 2018 draft prospect Josh Allen looked like a franchise quarterback as he completed arguably his best game as a pro. It was a Tale of Two Quarterbacks in the autumn chill of Buffalo. 

Sam Darnold hasn’t shown anything over the past two seasons to warrant hope in the New York faithful that he will be the quarterback of the future. And the Jets recently laid a giant egg in training camp. 

Not just that, the “Fire Gase” chants are loud and clear among the millions of Jets fans tuning into each game from their homes. Heck, the chants were so loud for the axing of coach Adam Gase that you could probably hear them thousands of miles away. 

If this thing implodes, Darnold is finished in New York, and Lawrence might just become the next New York Jets quarterback. God help him. 

2 – Jacksonville Jaguars

Gardner Minshew is a starting quarterback and will get a shot somewhere in 2021. But the Jacksonville Jaguars have absolutely nothing on defense to give you faith the Jags will win many games in 2020. No, this isn’t on the quarterback or even the offense, but rather youth and inexperience.

Sure, they started 2020 off with a bang in an upset over the Indianapolis Colts. I can point to about 50 teams since 2001 who started the season likewise, only to lay an egg for the final 15 games of the season.

The most notable team?

The 2001 Carolina Panthers. 

The problem with the Jags is that they are still a young team with a second-year quarterback surrounded by youngsters. And they have a rookie running back who wasn’t even drafted behind him. 

It’s not a good look for Minshew and the Jags. With that said, if the Jags are picking anywhere near the top five, they’re a hot bet to land Lawrence either with the first pick or via trade up.

3 – Las Vegas Raiders

Getting Marcus Mariota in free agency tells me it’s a harbinger for what may come for incumbent quarterback Derek Carr. Before the Raiders placed him on IR, they raved about what Mariota can do. 

Or Jon Gruden raved about Mariota while the rest of us continue to scratch our heads as to why he doesn’t just stick with quarterback Derek Carr.

If the Las Vegas Raiders have another losing season, Gruden and general manager Mike Mayock aren’t going anywhere. They’re in owner Mark Davis’ back pocket. Carr is the odd man out, and if the Raiders are known for one thing, it’s pulling off some strange Draft Day magic.

They either like to make picks no one sees coming, or they’ll work to secure a blockbuster deal. 

While they might be one of the more farfetched candidates to land Lawrence, don’t be surprised if they do something that involves either the trade of Derek Carr or a big-name player en route to landing Lawrence.

4 – Washington Football Team

First off, let’s credit Dwayne Haskins and company for the Washington football team’s dramatic comeback win over the Philadelphia Eagles. They’re beyond young on offense and talent-laden all over the field. They also have a decent and experienced offensive line. It’s clear that there’s lots of good here in Washington.

However, Haskins has shown inconsistency throughout his career and while the Football Team came from behind to stun the Eagles, he has a lot to prove. His numbers were meager, with just a 54.8 completion percentage on 31 attempts. He also lost 19 yards on 3 sacks.

Down the stretch, Washington will go as far as Haskins takes them and they have the defense to keep opponents under the 20-point threshold every week. Keep an eye on how Haskins responds to these gifts.

If he and Washington are heading toward a sub-.500 finish, they’re definitely in the Trevor Lawrence sweepstakes. 

5 – Detroit Lions

Matthew Stafford is 32 and heading into his 12th season. He has an 0-3 record in the playoffs and has experienced back problems over the past two seasons. The latter of which consisted of him missing the Lions’ final 8 games.

If Stafford and the Lions continue to lose—and Week 1 of 2020 consists of the Same Old Lions—perhaps the organization finally pulls the plug on the underachieving quarterback. 

Yeah, Stafford puts up pretty numbers and is good in the fantasy football department. But he has a 69-80-1 career record as a starter. The guy is Archie Manning 2.0, which is perhaps a more accurate and productive version of Manning. 

Anyway, with head coach Matt Patricia on the hot seat, the Detroit Lions are in prime position to reboot this thing from scratch. And can you really blame them?

Lawrence landing in the Motor City is a decent bet. 

6 – Carolina Panthers

The Carolina Panthers are in a complete rebuild and head coach Matt Rhule has been in this position before at the college level, winning just three games in his first season at both Temple and Baylor. 

And the day after the season opener, head coach Matt Rhule already has to explain his boneheaded decision not to hand the ball to Christian McCaffrey with the game on the line. Perhaps he should’ve spoken to Seahawks’ coach Pete Carroll beforehand.

Carroll knows a thing or two about explaining his way out of that situation. 

Anyway, this section isn’t a knock against Rhule, nor is it a knock against quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who posted some stellar numbers in his first game back as a full-time starter (Bridgewater started five games in 2019). 

But as former Cleveland Browns’ head coach Chris Palmer once stated, “When you get a shot at a franchise quarterback, you take it.”

Bridgewater is young but he’s already in journeyman status given a horrific knee injury in 2016. He’s playing for his fourth team in five seasons. He’s a good quarterback, but if the Panthers go in the direction as Rhule’s teams often do in Year 1, expect a quarterback change, especially if they’re in a position to land Lawrence. 

7 – Cleveland Browns 

Can Baker Mayfield get any worse?

Watching the Browns-Ravens’ tilt on Sunday, Mayfield looked lost against one of the NFL’s best defenses. It was more of the same from Mayfield and the Same Old Cleveland Browns.

Mayfield posted 4.8 yards per attempt, completed 53.8% of his passes for 189 yards, and per the usual, threw his weekly interception. It should’ve been 2, as a tipped pass went through the hands of a Ravens defender. 

Given the 38-6 horror story in the city that Edgar Allen Poe made famous (and from whom the Ravens got their name and mascot), a few more games like that and Cleveland could find itself in a familiar position. 

But hey, give Mayfield credit. The guy’s heading into his third season as the Browns’ quarterback and second season as the team’s full-time starter. 

The first Browns’ quarterback since Tim Couch did it in 2001. 

But man, at this point, perhaps Cleveland’s faithful would rather see Couch than the eyesore they have in Mayfield. If this team loses to Cincy and the Washington Team, it’ll set a likely stage for the Browns to be in prime position to take Lawrence. 

Conclusion

These seven teams could all be in a search for their next franchise quarterback come January when hopefully news breaks that the NFL Draft will look like the NFL Draft again. 

Darnold is running out of chances in New York and ditto for Baker in Cleveland. Bridgewater may be the next great NFL journeyman if the Panthers finish like the rest of Rhule’s teams in his debut seasons. 

The Raiders are wizards at shocking the NFL landscape and could easily pull off some magic. The Lions are threatening a reboot. The Jaguars are in the same boat, even if they started the season hot.

Ditto for the Washington Team. 

Which team do you think is the safest bet for Trevor Lawrence in 2021, and who are you leaning toward putting your money on?