Week 16 QB Index: Trevor Lawrence Reaches Top-5 Status

NFL.com's weekly quarterback index has the Jaguars with a top-five quarterback, maybe for the first time in franchise history.

Trevor Lawrence hasn't just proven to the Jacksonville Jaguars that they have a franchise quarterback on their hands. Instead, he has given the Jaguars something they have never had in their entire team history. 

A top-five quarterback.

Lawrence's numbers over the last month, which has seen the Jaguars win four of their last five and three in a row, are as good as any other quarterback's in the NFL. His production goes toe-to-toe with the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and Joe Burrow, a reflection of his growth as a passer.

Ever since Lawrence struggled in a Week 8 loss to the Denver Broncos in London, he has been a different player. 

“I think it didn’t really manifest until the next game the next week, and it just slowly got better and better and better with him. You did see it in practice, the way he practiced, the way he prepared," Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said on Wednesday.

"His focus, the attention to detail. If he wanted a play over again, I let him do it over again, so he can make a throw or do something else with the football. Sometimes it takes that. It takes a game, a play, took that one pretty hard from a standpoint of we all need to do a little bit better, and he was no different.”

As a result of Lawrence's big numbers over the last month-plus, he has risen in a big way in NFL.com's weekly quarterback index.

A week after Lawrence cracked NFL.com's top-10 for the first time, the index has Lawrence at No. 5 overall this week, the highest ranking of his career.

"Lawrence looked the part against the Jets, grinding through a driving rain and swirling winds to complete 20 of 31 passes for 229 yards," NFL.com wrote. "We've seen it before in smaller doses, but the 6-foot-6 Lawrence produced one his finest performances on the ground, gashing Gang Green for 51 yards off seven carries when not continuing to turn Evan Engram (7/113) into a late-season super-being. 

"Lawrence made up for his early game fumble with a clean performance the rest of the way. We're watching something special happen in Jacksonville: The rapid evolution of a potential-filled, top overall pick morphing into a glowing new star in the AFC."

"We’re playing really good team ball. We’re playing complimentary. We’re putting together great games, so why would you want to jeopardize that at this point in our season when we’re kind of hitting our stride?" Lawrence said on Wednesday. 

"This is just another opportunity to keep doing that, to keep playing great together and to get another win, obviously, against a good team. That’s the mindset for us, and I know the guys believe that, and our mindset is let’s not lose any more this season. That’s what we’ve got in front of us, that’s what we have to do. If we want to get to where we want to be. That’s the mindset, and that’s kind of what it has to be, and in order to do that, you’ve got to win. You’ve got to go 1-0 every week, and that’s been the message this whole season, and it’s working for us, so we’ve just got to keep doing that.”

Below is where NFL.com has ranked Lawrence each week this season; a lull in the middle of the season after an early jump, presented by a rise over the last few weeks.

Week 2: No. 19

Week 3: No. 20

Week 4: No. 14

Week 5: No. 17

Week 6: No. 24

Week 7: No. 21

Week 8: No. 20

Week 10: No. 19

Week 11: No. 16

Week 12: No. 16

Week 13: No. 14

Week 14: No. 13

Week 15: No. 13 

Week 16: No. 7 

Week 17: No. 5