Trevor Lawrence is a special football player. The Clemson quarterback is the most coveted player to come out of college football in recent memory. He’s a franchise quarterback expected to have a long and successful career in the NFL. Lawrence has always been a star and he should get the credit for the success of Alabama tight end Miller Forristall.

Trevor Lawrence guides Clemson back into the college playoffs

After a stellar high school football career at Cartersville High School in Cartersville, Georgia, Trevor Lawrence committed to play college football at Clemson. Lawrence came in as a hyped-up quarterback after breaking DeShaun Watson’s high school records for passing yards and touchdowns in 2017.

As a freshman, Lawrence earned the starting quarterback job at Clemson after four games. Lawrence guided the Tigers to a 44-16 victory over Alabama in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game. It was Alabama’s worst loss under head coach Nick Saban. Lawrence was named the game’s offensive MVP.

In 2019, the Tigers made their way back into the title game but came up short to Joe Burrow and the LSU Tigers. The loss to the Tigers was Lawrence’s first of his college career. This season, Clemson (10-1) is back in the playoffs as they will take on Ohio State in the semifinals Friday.

Lawrence likely headed to the Jacksonville Jaguars

Trevor Lawrence is only a junior. The 6-foot-6, 220-pound quarterback could remain in school, but it’s highly likely he will enter the 2021 NFL draft and be the top pick. A very surprising two-game win streak by the New York Jets took them out of the running for the right to pick first in the draft. The Jacksonville Jaguars, who haven’t won since opening day, own the No. 1 pick.

Lawrence is the clear-cut choice. Barring injury or a shocking announcement that he intends to return to school, the Jaguars will take Lawrence with that top pick. In 39 games at Clemson, Lawrence has thrown for 9,698 yards. He has racked up 88 touchdown passes and has thrown just 16 interceptions.

The Jaguars are starving for a franchise quarterback. They brought in Nick Foles in 2019, but he was injured in the opener. Gardner Minshew filled in nicely, but has shown he’s not the long-term answer. Mike Glennon and Jake Luton also got a chance this season Lawrence will certainly provide stability at the position.

Credit Lawrence for the success of Alabama TE Miller Forristall

Joey King was the coach at Cartersville High School as Trevor Lawrence was ready to enroll. King had heard about Lawrence and the potential he came with. “He was easy to spot in that first meeting,” King said, according to Bleacher Report. “He was a head-and-a-half taller than everyone as an eighth-grader. The first time I saw him throw, we had a bad snap in practice, ball on the ground. He reaches down with his eyes still on the field, stabs at the ball, picks it up with one hand and throws a strike down the field. I remember thinking, ‘OK, boys, I think we’ve got something here.'”

Miller Forristall was the quarterback at Cartersville at the time. He wound up losing his job to Lawrence. The demotion stung at the time but turned out to be a blessing. “Everybody knew about him from day one when he stepped on campus,” Forristall said of Lawrence. “We heard chatter that this freshman was coming in and he was all-world. I said, ‘I’ll believe it when I see it.’

“Then this 6-5 kid comes in, and he throws the first ball, and you believe it really quick. It’s hard to tell a 17-year-old kid that God has created the universe and this is his divine plan. I worked my butt off for that job and I deserved it. I wasn’t mad at Trevor. He’s such a great guy. But in hindsight, losing the job and moving to tight end was by far the best thing that could’ve happened to me.” Forristall is now playing tight end for Nick Saban at Alabama.