Former head coach has the wildest Trevor Lawrence NFL Draft take

It’s pretty much a universal given that Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence is a generational talent at the position, and is all but a lock to go first overall to the Jacksonville Jaguars when the 2021 NFL Draft rolls around in April.

That is, for everyone except June Jones, a football coach who spent more than 30 years coaching across the NFL (including two years as the Falcons’ head coach and ten games as the interim HC for the Chargers), NCAA, CFL and XFL. Jones isn’t nearly as high on Lawrence as most, and would go an entirely different route if he had the No. 1 pick.

“Hey, I do like him. But I would not take him with the first pick, though,” Jones said in an interview with Yahoo Sports. “Everyone is saying that’s the guy at 1. But I would trade that pick and take one of these other quarterbacks down the line.”

Not only would Jones go another direction with the top pick, he has two quarterbacks ranked ahead of Lawrence. His top pick at the QB position would be Mac Jones, who led Alabama to a national championship. Another shocker, as many analysts have Jones ranked fourth or fifth among the QBs behind Lawrence, BYU’s Zach Wilson (Jones’ second ranked QB ahead of Lawrence), Ohio State’s Justin Fields and North Dakota State’s Trey Lance.

What does Jones see in Lawrence that makes him skeptical?

“What I’ve noticed is, when you see him drop back and throw, let’s say, a 9-route down the field, on those completions that he had over 20 yards, a lot of times his receivers make great plays on those balls. And they weren’t right on the money, they weren’t right in stride. The receivers sometimes had to work for the deep ball with him than what (you’d expect from) a great quarterback.

“He obviously can work on it and improve it. But right now, I kind of like a couple of other guys better.”

We’ll see how this flaming-hot take ages in the coming years.