Urban Meyer is a major piece of Fox’s new college football pregame show and he’s hitting the ground running with some strong opinions. Or at least one that sounded pretty strong and — as an added bonus — could prove to be true in the long run.
Meyer, who has coached many fine quarterbacks through the years, believes Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence is the best college signal-caller to date.
“I think Dabo Swinney, as long as he can keep that team together … the quarterback is the best quarterback in college football, ever,” he said. “But what about the rest of the team? Are they going to stay focused and keep swinging like they did last year?”
UPDATE: Meyer clarified this by saying everyone misheard him.
Lawrence was a revelation in his freshman year. He threw 30 touchdowns and only four interceptions and led the Tigers to a national championship. He’ll likely be even better this year and will eventually be the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft. That said, he didn’t even lead his conference in passing yards last season (that honor belongs to Ryan Finley, who threw for 3,928).
Tim Tebow, Braxton Miller, J.T. Barrett, and possibly a few other Meyer proteges have accomplished more than Lawrence, even if you’re a big rings guy. Dwayne Haskins was every bit as good as the Clemson star last season. He just didn’t have quite the same success.
A smart bettor, of course, would bank on Lawrence having two more incredible campaigns if the health gods are in his favor. So Meyer’s big backing could go from a stretch to a no-brainer and public consensus.
