Sports media personality Colin Cowherd spoke out about Trevor Lawrence on his national sports talk program, The Herd, on Thursday.

Cowherd took up for Clemson’s star quarterback, saying people in general should stop nitpicking Lawrence for every mistake he makes and judging him by how flawlessly he performed in 2018 when he became the first true freshman quarterback to lead his team to a national title since 1985.

“Trevor Lawrence is so great, the Clemson quarterback, and he was so great early we’re going to pick him apart,” Cowherd said on his show. “We did this with Andrew Luck. Joe Burrow, Kyler Murray, they kind of just came out of nowhere and we were like ‘woah!” And so we’re in the awe stage. They never really got criticized.”

Cowherd believes Lawrence gets critiqued more because he was so good at the outset of his career, as opposed to quarterbacks like Burrow and Murray who did not break out until each won the Heisman Trophy in their final seasons at LSU and Oklahoma, respectively.

“The reason Joe Burrow and Kyler were anointed great, because they arrived late. We didn’t have time to really inspect them,” Cowherd said. “Joe Burrow wasn’t very good as a junior around all those same LSU players. Kyler Murray was more into baseball early, had to move around and transfer.”

Lawrence was criticized by many in the national media over the early part of last season as he threw eight interceptions over Clemson’s first seven games, then took more heat at the end of last season following his showing in the loss to Burrow’s LSU squad in the national championship game, when he completed only 18 of 37 passes for 234 yards and no touchdowns while losing a fumble for the first time in his career.

While Lawrence has struggled at times, like any quarterback, Cowherd pointed out how well he has played overall in the biggest games against the best competition.

“The last eight games Trevor Lawrence played last year, including the playoff games, he didn’t throw an interception – as a sophomore, true sophomore, didn’t redshirt, and that counts Ohio State and LSU,” Cowherd said. “The four best teams he’s ever played in college – Bama, LSU, Ohio State and that Notre Dame playoff team – eight touchdowns, no picks, two rushing touchdowns, won three of four. Last year, he faced a great college football team that had more good NFL players. LSU had 14 guys drafted. But because Trevor Lawrence was so good early, the next two years will be spent, ‘well, what about that quarter, what about that throw, what about that game?’ Let’s stop.”

Some analysts have conflicting opinions on whether Lawrence or Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields will be the No. 1 overall pick in next year’s NFL draft, but Cowherd does not think that topic is even up for debate.

“You know how this year we were talking and arguing about who was going to get taken number one and stuff? That’s not a talking point. He’s going number one,” Cowherd said of Lawrence. “Justin Fields at Ohio State is an unbelievable talent. People don’t even put him in the same classification — I saw a mock draft and they had Justin Fields at 20. I mean, here’s your number one pick. Period. There’s no argument. He is 6-6, big arm, can run like crazy, ran all over Ohio State’s defense. There’s no flaws in the game. There’s literally no holes. Joe Burrow, bad as a junior, average arm. Trevor Lawrence doesn’t have any of that, he just had not a very good game against LSU, a great football team. Like, let’s not pick apart Trevor Lawrence if he has a bad start. He’s a kid.”

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