Did the Jaguars Find Another Way to Elevate Trevor Lawrence?

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence could be in for a career year in 2024, especially if the offense thrives under center.

Aug 23, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) at the line of scrimmage against the Atlanta Falcons in the second quarter at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports / Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

One of the secrets to a potential breakout season from Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence could be as simple as how he gets the ball.

Lawrence has historically graded well as an under center passer, an ironic twist of fate after Lawrence's complete abscence of under center snaps with the Clemson Tigers lead to him having to learn something as simple as the quarterback sneak as a rookie.

And now, it looks like the shotgun-heavy Jaguars offense may be making more of a move toward the classic way of playing the position.

The Jaguars treated the final preseason game as a true play-planning experience, so it must mean something that in 12 dropbacks against the Falcons, Lawrence threw from under center 4 times (3 of 4 for 55 yards).

"I don't think he did any of it in college. I think Trevor's really grown under center. He's getting more comfortable with it," Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said last week.

"I like it. It's kind of the traditional part of the offense. But I think too, it kind of balances your offense a little bit. Not as many indicators, run and pass, and something we can continue to grow with.”

According to Sports Info Solutions, the Jaguars ran shotgun snaps on 80% of their plays -- the ninth-highest rate in the league. Could that number go down in 2024, though, as the Jaguars try to lean on the run game more to take pressure off Lawrence?

 “Well, I think just in terms of an offensive approach, it limits your tendencies. It limits the tells that you're giving to a defense. But a lot of that comes from being able to stay in those first and second-down situations," Jaguars offensive coordinator Press Taylor said.

"Being under center on 2nd-and-15 and some empty set possibly, that's not going to do as much for you. So, we're just not going under to go under. We're going under to eliminate any tells, tendencies. It allows you to get from play to play without moving people around. I think if you're great with the ball handling aspect of it, you can hide the ball from the defense a little bit longer, which I think helps manipulate eyes of second-level players, third-level players, even slows the pass rush a little bit as they're trying to decipher run or pass before they transition into a pass rush on play-action movements. I think that's something he's very good at. He's a really good athlete. It just kind of helps him the second he snaps around and faces the defense of being able to see and dictate and determine what's going on.”

How often QBs dropback from under center and production on those plays

Trevor Lawrence very effective on a smaller sample, and most of the Shanahan tree effective/heavy in it pic.twitter.com/KHCJYycTmC

— Football Insights 📊 (@fball_insights) January 24, 2024

 It is a shift for the Jaguars in a league and sport where spread offenses continue to be all the gage. But it is a change the Jaguars think could benefit their franchise passer in a big way.

“Yeah, I don't think he ever went under center. We were talking about that the other day of just kind of all of us sharing our experiences as quarterbacks. I don't think he'd ever really played under center," Taylor said. "He's never really dropped back under center. I think we've probably had less than 10 since we've been here in our time.

"But that's something again, just because he hasn't done much of it doesn't mean he's not really good at it. He wants to continue to work it, and we'll continue to introduce that and utilize it when we think it's an advantage for our offense.”

Ensure you follow on X (Twitter) @JaguarsOnSI and @_John_Shipley and never miss another breaking news story again.

Please let us know your thoughts when you like our Facebook page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE