When the Scouting Combine took place last year, Doug Pederson had just been hired as the Jaguars head coach and one of the biggest questions the team faced was how quarterback Trevor Lawrence would bounce back from a dismal rookie season amid the Urban Meyer disaster.
It took a little time for things to fall into place, but Lawrence and the Jaguars got into a groove over the final months of the season and advanced to the divisional round of the playoffs. During a press conference at the Scouting Combine this week, Pederson was asked what Lawrence has to do after making a leap in his second NFL season.
“I think the next step for Trevor is just another step in the leadership role,” Pederson said. “Last year was probably about learning a new offense, learning to play this game, learning a bunch of different aspects of playing quarterback in the National Football League. We just build on that, that’s the next step, that’s the challenge for him.”
Pederson also stopped by PFT Live in Indy and he provided Lawrence with an example of the kind of path he’d like to see the quarterback take in the near future. It’s the one that Patrick Mahomes has followed since entering the league.
“He’s your leader,” Pederson said. “He knows how to rally. He knows how to get guys together in the offseason and take control of the team. He’s matured in his five or six years in this league and I hope our guy sees it, does it, and we’re in this situation in a couple of years.”
It looks like any AFC team with designs on championships is going to have to go through the Chiefs for the foreseeable future and stealing a few pages from their book seems like a good way to make that happen.