It is not often at Clemson two of its former quarterbacks are making the biggest headlines in the NFL. In fact, it has never happened.
Clemson has never had two former quarterbacks so desirable at the same time.
Trevor Lawrence, who just finished his college career, is the projected No. 1 overall pick in April’s NFL Draft. Every team wants him. He is considered the most complete quarterback coming into the draft since Andrew Luck.
Lawrence’s predecessor at Clemson, Deshaun Watson, has become perhaps the most desirable trade acquisition in the history of the league.
And all of it is good for Clemson.
Why?
Clemson’s former players are making the news the week leading up to the Super Bowl. Every time the draft is brought up, whether on ESPN or on the NFL Network or something streaming online, at some point Trevor Lawrence’s name was brought up. You can play a drinking game at any point in the day with the number of times Lawrence’s name is brought up.
It can be a really intense drinking game with Watson’s name, not that I condone such actions. However, talk of where the former Clemson quarterback could land is all anyone wants to discuss. I have heard more chatter about Watson on the NFL Network this past week than I have about Super Bowl LV.
Of course, it went up another level Saturday when the Lions traded Matthew Stafford to the Rams for quarterback Jared Goff, two future first round picks—2022 and 2023—and a third-round pick in this year’s NFL Draft.
Some say since the Rams gave up so much for Stafford, the trade value for Watson increased substantially overnight, causing some to predict it might turn out to be the biggest trade deal in NFL history.
How about that, right? The biggest trade in NFL History could involve a former Clemson player and a quarterback to boot.
Before Watson was selected by Houston with the 12th pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, no Clemson quarterback had been selected in the first round since Steve Fuller went No. 23 to the Kansas City Chiefs in the 1979 NFL Draft. In fact, Fuller was the first and only Clemson quarterback selected in the first round until Watson came around.
Now, four years after Watson was picked No. 12 overall in the draft, Lawrence is expected to be the first former Clemson player taken No. 1 in the NFL Draft.
So, if Lawrence is selected No. 1 by the Jacksonville Jaguars, then there is a good chance two former Clemson quarterbacks will have made history.