After steadying the Jaguars‘ offense last season towards the end, Trevor Lawrence has devoted his time to perfecting his chemistry with wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. this entire offseason.
Lawrence’s growth this offseason is organic, something that both ESPN’s NFL Insider Peter Schrager and Jaguars head coach Laim Coen talked about themselves.
“Trevor Lawrence had an outstanding offseason,” Schrager said on The Pat McAfee Show.
Not just Lawrence, the entire team around him is coming together in Coen’s Year 2. The depth in the wide receiver room is looking incredibly promising, and two-way star Travis Hunter is plugging the gaps on defense.
“Their wide receiver group is really interesting, and they really ended the season strong. And Travis Hunter is really interesting,” Schrager added.
Plus, 2025 was still the year everyone was getting used to Coen’s systems, and him in general as their head coach. Lawrence still made the MVP finalist.
Liam Coen Heaps Praise on Trevor Lawrence
GettyJaguars head coach Liam Coen praises QB Trevor Lawrence.
“We’ve had multiple opportunities to be able to get together out of this facility and away from here, and I’ve just got a ton of respect for the human being, the guy, his family, the husband and father that he is, and friends.”
Just a year into Coen’s complex offensive system, Lawrence flashed a better command of the offense and an improved ability to get in and out of the right plays at the line of scrimmage.
More importantly, insiders saw a more confident quarterback holding the reins of the offense.
Trevor Lawrence Considered Top MVP Dark Horse
GettyJacksonville Jaguars head coach Laim Coen, ESPN insider praise quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
Lawrence has been floating as a true dark horse MVP sleeper in 2026, and the reason seems obvious. He finished fifth in the ranking last season, and since then, the Jaguars haven’t generated that much buzz. Not in free agency, and not with some massive offseason move either.
They have been steady. Then, of course, there’s the notion that the Jaguars overachieved under Coen in his debut season, and that’s why analysts don’t want to get their hopes up too high.
Yet, NFL.com’s Dan Parr ranked Lawrence as No. 2 MVP dark horse contender, just below 49ers‘ Brock Purdy for 2026.
His argument was simple: “He’s coming off his best season. And it’s entirely possible a second year in Coen’s system will bring out an even better version in a division Jacksonville has proven it can win, which is why I’m ranking him highly on this list.”
Coen and Schrager both saw that in Lawrence this offseason. Analysts saw it on the tape from 2025.
Whether or not Lawrence becomes the MVP this season comes secondary. The undeniable improvement in Coen’s Year 2 is the real talk of the town. With that level of growth, talking about a playoff run won’t feel like a pipe dream for Jacksonville.
Jaguars Trevor Lawrence Earns Major Offseason Praise From Liam Coen, Peter Schrager