'If you’re playing Madden, this is the kind of guy that you're going to build.'
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Many thought that once Deshaun Watson cycled out to the NFL, Clemson’s success would leave with him.
Junior quarterback Kelly Bryant has filled in nicely as a first-year starter and Clemson has not missed a beat. He’s led Clemson back to a third-straight playoff.
Now, enter Trevor Lawrence. The long-haired high school phenom inked his name to sign with Clemson on Wednesday.
You’ve heard about him all season long and there’s not much that we can tell you that you don’t already know. Dabo Swinney said Wednesday that the 6-foot-6, 210-pound Lawrence is way further ahead at this point from a physical standpoint than Watson was.
That’s a fair statement. Lawrence, a Cartersville High School product, broke Watson’s all-time passing record for the state of Georgia.
Lawrence finished his four years at Cartersville with 13,902 passing yards, shattering Watson’s previous record. He threw 161 touchdowns and only 21 interceptions.
In 12 games his senior season, he threw a staggering 41 touchdowns and only one interception according to Max Preps.
Everyone in Clemson’s camp is excited about this kid finally being able to get to campus and start competing. Co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott was complimentary of the No. 1 ranked prospect in the country.
“It doesn’t take many clips of his video to see his arm strength and his accuracy,” Scott said. “It’s as good as I have seen on the recruiting trail.
“We have watched him since his freshman year, and I think he runs a lot better than people think. One of the games we were watching, they were playing one of the top D-ends in Georgia, and he ran away from him on several occasions. He’s got really good toughness to him.”
Scott said this is the type of player you are looking if you’re looking to create a quarterback from scratch.
“If you’re playing Madden, a video game, and you build a quarterback, this is the kind of guy that you’re going to build. If you could dream up the best possible quarterback, this guy is going to be special.”
Don’t just take Scott’s word for it. We spoke with ESPN’s Recruiting Coordinator Craig Haubert, who has followed Lawrence throughout his entire recruitment.
“It’s tough to make an analysis on him when your jaw is on the floor,” Haubert said.
“We’ve been very cautious to rank quarterbacks high because so many things can go wrong and there are so many aspects that go into success at the position… His arm strength, his accuracy, his anticipation, he’s got a great frame and will continue to fill out. He does all those things really well.”
There has not been a quarterback since Matt Barkley in 2009 that has been ranked No. 1 in ESPN’s class rankings until this year. Lawrence and Justin Fields (Georgia) are both top prospects.
“He’s shown enough that there seems to be very little downside in his ability to be an outstanding college quarterback,” Haubert said.
Lawrence will enroll in January and get a head start on learning the Clemson offense. From what we have heard so far, we expect Lawrence to compete for the starting job from day one.
