Former NFL star rips Trevor Lawrence while talking QB market

Former six-time Pro Bowl running back LeSean McCoy told Kay Adams on the "Up and Adams" podcast on Thursday that he believes Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence is "really not that good."

McCoy issued the harsh words about the 2021 first overall pick when discussing the vast differences in salaries between signal-callers and other skill positions in the NFL.

"Right now, in this league, (what) really pisses me off is that we only focus on the quarterback," McCoy said. "For example, a guy like Trevor Lawrence who's really not that good, how the hell does he set the market up? You get what I'm saying?"

Lawrence was selected by the Jaguars with the top pick three years ago, but struggled mightily under head coach Urban Meyer, recording a league-high 17 interceptions as a rookie. With Meyer gone and former Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson at the helm, the Clemson product bounced back in 2022 by posting career bests in completion percentage (66.3), passing yards (4,113), passing touchdowns (25) and passer rating (95.2). Lawrence also tossed just eight interceptions and led Jacksonville to the AFC South division title and its first playoff appearance in five years.

The 24-year-old was seventh in the NFL MVP voting in 2022 and earned the lone Pro Bowl honor of his short career thus far that year as well. Lawrence regressed in 2023 with a 65.6 completion percentage, 4,016 passing yards, 21 touchdowns, 14 interceptions and an 88.5 passer rating, though he had four rushing touchdowns and registered career highs in rushing yards (339) and rushing yards per attempt (4.8).

Lawrence and the Jaguars agreed to a five-year, $275M contract extension in mid-June, a deal that tied the Knoxville, Tenn., native with Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow as the highest-paid player in the NFL.

McCoy also commented on New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones and his hefty salary, claiming that 2019 sixth-round pick Gardner Minshew is comparable to Lawrence.

"We live in a real world where Daniel Jones is a starting quarterback and he's making like, what, $80M or something like that?" McCoy said. "How does that even happen? And then your best player is (running back Saquon Barkley) and you get rid of him. We've got to just turn the narrative with the quarterbacks thing because it's getting out of hand. If we look at Minshew's numbers, Gardner Minshew, a quarterback who used to play for the Jaguars, we look at his numbers, and we look at Trevor Lawrence, whose numbers do you think would be better?"

"Shady" McCoy claimed that there's "not really" a big difference between Lawrence and Minshew, who was drafted by Jacksonville and played 49 games (37 starts) in 2019 and 2020.

Minshew posted a 62.9 completion percentage with 5,530 passing yards, 37 touchdowns and 11 interceptions for a 93.1 passer rating during his time with the Jaguars. He played nine games (four starts) over two seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2021 and 2022, and then spent the 2023 campaign with the Indianapolis Colts.

With Colts first-round rookie Anthony Richardson suffering multiple injuries last season, Minshew ended up playing all 17 games, making 13 starts, and earning his first Pro Bowl nod. Minshew ended 2023 with a 62.2 completion percentage, career-high 3,305 passing yards, 15 touchdowns and nine interceptions for an 84.6 passer rating.

He signed a two-year, $25M deal with the Las Vegas Raiders in March.