Trevor Lawrence Is Just One Guy

Tanking For Trevor and considering Tanking For Trevor have become extremely popular activities both in real life and in imagination ever since the Clemson quarterback phenom showed that he has — as a bad sports radio pundit would say — the goods. An eighth of the way through an uncharacteristically weird NFL season, there are a handful of teams that could take stock of the situation and decide bringing in a can't-miss franchise quarterback in the spring might be preferable to trying to save dignity and fight to a 5-11 finish.

But this isn't the Judgement of Solomon. These franchises can't simply cut Trevor Lawrence in half and split his services. He needs to be intact to be effective, meaning only one team can immediately benefit from his services. This is bad news for all but one of the Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Giants and Jets, Denver Broncos, Minnesota Vikings, Detroit Lions, Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers, Atlanta Falcons or some other team stumbling out of the gate with real long-term questions at quarterback.

The Jaguars, seen as the most likely candidate heading into 2020 to say oops, guess we lost 14 times this season, look halfway competent with Gardner Minshew making the most of his one-year audition. The Vikings, who probably should consider wetting the bed and cutting ties with Kirk Cousins before it's too late, likely won't entertain the notion. So motivations are as varied as situations around the league. All are subject to change week in and week out.

Lawrence is not the first blue-chip quarterback to get fan bases hot and bothered about the future and potential in general. He won't be the last. Every year we get down-on-their-luck supporters of Team X reaching for the magic panacea of a 21-year-old with a golden arm. They lust after him and just assume the chips will fall into place.

Here's the thing, though. Being super bad is actually super hard in the NFL, what with parity being as reliable as field goal kickers from 33 yards. Only one hapless sack of losers can bumble to that top pick. Everyone else ends up missing on the can't-miss prospect.

It's somewhat similar to the classic Seinfeld bit. Anyone can just tank. But the tanking here is only in the interest of Trevor. That's what causes the tanking. And Trevor is really the most important part of the whole process.