Trevor Lawrence ranked No. 1 in QB rankings, Justin Fields tabbed as top 'playmaker'

Lawrence showed his skills as a playmaker in the Fiesta Bowl last December.

by TigerNet Staff - Fri May 15 13:11:25 GMT-04:00 2020

Clemson's Trevor Lawrence and Ohio State's Justin Fields will be in the same conversation surrounding the upcoming season's action quite a bit.

Lawrence topped Fields for the top spot in Sporting News' QB rankings this week.

"Lawrence has led the Tigers to back-to-back appearances in the College Football Playoff championship game, and the Tigers will be ranked No. 1 in most preseason publications," SN's Bill Bender writes. "Lawrence has passed for 66 TDs and 12 interceptions over the past two seasons and has rushed for 10 TDs. He is all but a lock to be the No. 1 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Can he add the Heisman Trophy and a second national championship to the resume on the way out?"

UNC's Sam Howell checks in at No. 3, while scheduled non-conference foe Notre Dame and Ian Book is No. 5 and Miami transfer QB (via Houston) D'Eriq King is No. 11.

CBS Sports took a different tact in assessing QBs as "playmakers," judging Fields as the top signal-caller.

"Hot-shot quarterbacks need to play in systems that highlight their skills in a wide variety of ways," Barrett Sallee writes. "No system does it better, and no player has better skills, than Ohio State and Fields. The junior threw for 3,273 yards, rushed for 484 more and totaled 51 touchdowns. He went to New York as a Heisman Trophy finalist and led his team to the College Football Playoff in his first season as a starting quarterback. He did all of that despite heading to the bench with big leads multiple times during the 2019 season. Now that Fields is entrenched under center and coach Ryan Day has championship-experience, expect Fields to flirt with 4,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards in 2020 -- provided he plays a full four quarters most of the time."

Travis Etienne was tabbed as the top playmaker as a running back.

Pro Football Focus has Lawrence as its top college QB ($), also regarded the top draft prospect there, with Fields as second-team and Etienne as its top running back as well.