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Main as much as the 2021 NFL draft, which begins April 29, Yahoo Sports activities will rely down our high 100 general prospects. We’ll rely them down in teams of 5 for Nos. 100-51, adopted by extra in-depth stories on our high 50 gamers, with assist from our scouting assistant, Liam Blutman. We reserve the precise to make modifications to gamers’ grades and evaluations based mostly on damage updates, pro-day exercises or late-arriving info from NFL groups.
Different prospect rankings: Nos. 100-96 | 95-91 | 90-86 | 85-81 | 80-76 | 75-71 | 70-66 | 65-61 | 60-56 | 55-51 | 50. OT Liam Eichenberg | 49. WR Terrace Marshall Jr. | 48. LB Chazz Surratt | 47. EDGE Joe Tryon | 46. OT-OG Alex Leatherwood | 45. CB Asante Samuel Jr. | 44. DL Levi Onwuzurike | 43. LB Jabril Cox | 42. DT Daviyon Nixon | 41. EDGE Ronnie Perkins | 40. LB Nick Bolton | 39. CB Ifeatu Melifonwu | 38. WR Elijah Moore | 37. OT Jalen Mayfield | 36. EDGE Carlos Basham Jr. | 35. CB Elijah Molden | 34. RB Travis Etienne | 33. WR Kadarius Toney | 32. EDGE Jayson Oweh | 31. LB Zaven Collins | 30. DT Christian Barmore | 29. QB Mac Jones | 28. CB Caleb Farley | 27. RB Javonte Williams | 26. C-OG Landon Dickerson | 25. S Trevon Moehrig | 24. CB Greg Newsome II | 23. WR Rashod Bateman | 22. EDGE Greg Rousseau | 21. OT Christian Darrisaw | 20. RB Najee Harris | 19. LB-S Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah | 18. EDGE Jaelan Phillips | 17. OT Teven Jenkins | 16. EDGE Kwity Paye | 15. CB Jaycee Horn | 14. OT-OG Rashawn Slater | 13. OG-OT Alijah Vera-Tucker | 12. WR DeVonta Smith | 11. EDGE Azeez Ojulari | 10. CB Patrick Surtain II | 9. OT Penei Sewell | 8. QB Zach Wilson | 7. LB Micah Parsons | 6. QB Trey Lance | 5. WR Jaylen Waddle | 4. QB Justin Fields | 3. WR Ja’Marr Chase | 2. TE Kyle Pitts | 1. QB Trevor Lawrence
1. Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence
6-foot-6, 220 kilos
Yahoo Sports activities draft grade: 7.25 — immediate-impact prospect
TL;DR scouting report: Prototype franchise QB with terrific arm expertise and athleticism whose response to stress is amongst his uncommon shortcomings
Video games watched: Ohio State (2019), LSU (2019), Wake Forest (2020), Virginia Tech (2020), Syracuse (2020), Ohio State (2020)
The thin: A 5-star Rivals recruit (No. 1 nationally), Lawrence supplanted Kelly Bryant as Clemson’s beginning QB 4 video games into the 2018 season, beginning 11 of 15 video games as a real freshman. He accomplished 259 of 397 passes (65.2%) for 3,280 yards with 30 touchdowns and 4 interceptions and ran 60 instances for 177 yards and one TD. Lawrence grew to become solely the second true freshman to guide his crew to a nationwide title, incomes ACC Rookie of the Yr honors, second-team all-conference and a Manning Award finalist. In 2019, he accomplished 268 of 407 passes (65.8%) for 3,665 yards, 36 TDs and eight INTs and ran 103 instances for 563 yards and 9 TDs in 15 begins. Lawrence led the Tigers again to the nationwide title recreation, the place they misplaced to LSU, and earned first-team All-ACC point out.
In 2020, he accomplished 231 of 334 passes (69.2%) for 3,153 yards with 24 TDs and 5 INTs and ran 68 instances for 203 yards and eight TDs in 10 begins, lacking two after testing constructive for COVID-19. Lawrence was named ACC Offensive Participant of the Yr and third-team AP All-America and was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Away, Davey O’Brien Award and Walter Camp Participant of the Yr award. He selected to declare early for the 2021 draft.
Upside: Sturdy athletic profile at almost 6-foot-6. Fast ft out and in of the pocket. Tall body to cleanly survey the sector. Seems to be the a part of a prototypical passer however with plus athletic traits.
Sturdy anticipatory expertise. Good pre-snap recognition and post-snap reads. Received’t be underwater as a rookie studying coverages and fronts. Offers his major reads each likelihood. Will work by way of the second learn no less than. Understands the construction of his offense extraordinarily effectively. Retains good time in his head and barely holds onto it too lengthy. Fast, decided launch to get the ball out on time.
Golden arm — shoots lasers all around the subject. Particularly adept at firing exterior the numbers to the far aspect of the sector. Can drive to the seam on a rope. Good throwing mechanics with clear windup and lower-body energy to step into throws. Can manipulate his arm angle when wanted.
Makes use of contact higher now than he did early in his profession — will feather a couple of nice balls over defenders. Drilled some tight-window “keyhole” pictures. Nice contact and placement to all components of the sector within the quick and intermediate. Nice passing really feel. Throws effectively on the transfer, exterior the pocket and within the fast recreation.
Has an aggressive aspect — likes to go for the carotid artery when he smells concern in a protection. Sufficient arm to whip it 50 yards downfield and belief his receivers to make the play. Deadly on play-action — carries out fakes effectively with full again flip and unleashes assured strikes. Nice really feel for the passing recreation. Extremely assured in his reads and exploiting defenders’ leverage. Will eat up zone all day lengthy — like 7-on-7 for him.
Lively runner who can sting defenses together with his legs. Must be utilized in designed QB run recreation, even within the NFL. Will scramble when issues break down and may outrun a protection and take a success. Excellent throwing on the run — bootlegs and waggles ought to be an enormous a part of the playbook. Undersold toughness — took beatings two straight years vs. Ohio State and saved coming again for extra.
Sturdy polish and poise — born to play quarterback. Turned in his greatest all-around season in 2020 regardless of working together with his weakest group of receivers and offensive linemen in his three years. Solely two losses as a starter in faculty soccer, each within the playoffs. Hasn’t misplaced a recreation exterior the playoffs in faculty or highschool — mixed report of 86-4.
Compartmentalizes effectively and carries pure, follow-me management expertise. Humble for a star, but pushed. Extraordinarily well-liked with Clemson teammates and coaches alike. Carries an enormous stick however acts like an everyman.
Draw back: Underwent labrum (left, non-throwing shoulder) surgical procedure on Feb. 16. Restoration window anticipated to be 5-6 months, possible maintaining him out of on-field exercise till coaching camp. Leaner body than anticipated — weighed 213 at his professional day. Hasn’t but proven he can slide successfully as a runner and may very well be weak to damage.
Can enhance his pocket presence. Reacted to stress with combined outcomes — will hurry up his course of and let his mechanics wane. Might do a greater job of resetting his ft amid stress and getting his base settled beneath him.
Didn’t at all times crack the code vs. blitzing groups (see Virginia Tech recreation) or defenses that bought house constantly with 4 rushers. Accomplished 57.6% vs. the blitz in 2020, 71.6% when not blitzed — and yards per try dropped from 9.4 to eight.1 vs. blitzes. Had a couple of INT-heavy streaks in his profession. Can be taught when to throw it away higher and combat for one more day.
Deep-ball accuracy is hit or miss — some accomplished passes downfield ought to have been credited to his proficient receivers working again to the ball or adjusting to off-target throws. Air-mailed a couple of lower-degree-of-difficulty throws. Shocking variety of batted balls on the line — 21 over his three seasons.
Persistently surrounded by top-tier expertise, particularly his first two seasons. Confronted lots of overmatched ACC defenses. Operated in shotgun-heavy system that featured a ton of screen-game motion, partial-field reads and predetermined throws. Extremely structured offense that didn’t permit for extra improvisation — can he do it? We simply haven’t seen too many off-script throws the previous three years.
Greatest-suited vacation spot: We all know the place Lawrence goes — Jacksonville — however it will likely be attention-grabbing to see how completely different the Jaguars’ offense is in comparison with what he ran at Clemson. We anticipate extra under-center work and a distinct food plan of passing ideas in comparison with his faculty days, however there definitely ought to be overlap.
However we additionally marvel how Lawrence will reply to failure — as a result of that comes for all. Lawrence might lose extra video games within the first two months of his rookie season than he has previously seven years of his life. Can he reply? Sure. Lawrence is wired in another way, even when his life perspective views would possibly run anathema to lots of the chip-on-their-shoulder quarterbacks populating the NFL. His type has served him effectively thus far, even when the meat grinder of the NFL may be unforgiving.
Do you know: The person Lawrence changed because the beginning QB at Cartersville (Ga.) Excessive? It was really Miller Forristall, who moved to tight finish and ended up at Alabama. Forristall is predicted to be a Day 3 decide or precedence free agent
Participant comp: There aren’t many comps we are able to precisely dish out, however there’s some overlap with Justin Herbert’s recreation.
Anticipated draft vary: First general decide
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