Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence has been getting some buzz as the 2026 season approaches. 

CBS Analyst Garrett Podell called Lawrence an underrated quarterback for this year.  "He led the entire NFL in total touchdowns with 24 across the last eight games of the regular season, a span in which Jacksonville went a perfect 8-0 to finish 13-4 and win the AFC South," said Podell via CBS Sports. 

But how underrated is Lawrence really? 

Is Trevor Lawrence Underrated?

Lawrence was hailed as one of the best quarterback prospects in NFL history alongside players like Andrew Luck, John Elway, and others. Lawrence earned his hype with a great career at Clemson, which includes a national championship and a trip to New York as a Heisman Trophy finalist. That doesn't seem too underrated at all. 

The Jaguars drafted Lawrence with the first overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, and his rookie season was good, throwing for 3,641 passing yards and 12 touchdowns to 17 interceptions. Fast forward a bit, and he did have multiple coaching changes, some injuries, and Jacksonville just not doing so well. But in 2025, everything changed with the hiring of Liam Coen as head coach. 

Lawrence thrived in the first year of Coen's system last year, throwing for 4,007 passing yards and 29 touchdowns to 12 interceptions. Lawrence led the team to a 13-4 record and a wild-card playoff spot after going 3-14 the previous year. He's poised to have another great season in year two of Liam Coen's offense after being ranked 11th in Total Offense in 2025. They're getting wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter back; they have weapons like wideouts Parker Washington, Jakobi Meyers, Brian Thomas Jr. and others. 

Lawrence has the talent around him to do even better this year. As far as being underrated, he still isn't being put up there with other elite quarterbacks. But he can be elite in the NFL and likely will be. This year can solidify his elite status. 

He was ranked the 62nd-best player heading into 2026 on the NFL Top 100. That's not bad at all, but it does seem a bit underrated per se, considering how well he did last year. Is Lawrence underrated? A little bit. But after this year, that may be a thing of the past for the sixth-year quarterback. 

Whether Lawrence is overrated or underrated will solely depend on how much he can influence the Jaguars’ status as perennial playoff contenders. 

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