Trevor Lawrence didn’t just open the 2026 NFL season with a strong game for the Jaguars. He gave people reason to start talking about something bigger.
After a career year in 2025, Lawrence picked up right where he left off in Jacksonville’s win over the Cleveland Browns, and ESPN analyst Ben Solak is already floating the idea of an MVP run. That’s a long way from the uncertainty that has followed Lawrence through much of his NFL career, where inconsistency and coaching turnover kept interrupting the kind of ascent many expected when he came out of college as a generational talent.
Under Liam Coen, though, Lawrence has looked settled and dangerous. The opener against Cleveland only sharpened that image. Solak admitted it was too early to make a real MVP call after one week, but the performance was enough to get his imagination going.
"Do I really have an opinion about the league MVP through one week of the season? Absolutely not," Solak wrote. "But the mind wanders into such fantasies when the Jaguars ' offense cruise controls its way to a 34-point outing against a not-insignificant Browns defense in Week 1."
Solak’s bigger point was that Lawrence’s game is thriving because the pieces around him and the structure behind him are working together. He pointed to Coen’s scheme and Jacksonville’s receiving talent, while also noting that Lawrence is making better decisions when things break down.
"With a great schemer in Coen and a talented pass catching group, he's a total flamethrower," Solak added. "And as Lawrence plays with more confidence in structure, he makes better plays outside of structure, where his escapability and throw-on-the-move talent has always been underappreciated and underused."
Solak also stressed that the Browns defense deserved respect, which only made Lawrence’s showing stand out more. Cleveland may not be an easy opponent, but its defense is better than it often gets credit for, and Lawrence still made it look manageable.
The praise didn’t stop there. Pro Football Focus put Lawrence on its Team of the Week and also named him quarterback of the week. PFF said Lawrence was outstanding in Jacksonville’s season-opening win, leading the NFL with a +22.0% Completion Percentage Over Expectation and ranking 10th with a +3.0% Accuracy Over Expectation.
The road ahead will tell the real story. Jacksonville is about to face a stretch of games against multiple Super Bowl contending teams, and that will be the next major test for Lawrence and the Jaguars. If he keeps playing at this level, the MVP conversation is only going to get louder.
In Other News...
Jaguars Just Claimed A Surprising New Rooting Interest
The Jaguars have found an unusual offseason rooting interest in Tyler Cameron, the Florida contractor and reality TV personality who headed into the debut of Dancing with the Stars season 35 with public support from Jacksonville. Cameron, who has connections to the area, stepped onto the ballroom stage Monday night with partner Sharna Burgess and immediately made a solid first impression, landing the third-highest score on the premiere.
For a team fan base that is always quick to latch onto familiar Florida faces, Camerons run gives Jacksonville something a little different to follow on TV while the football calendar keeps turning. The show airs weekly, with eliminations part of the early-season drama, so the Jaguars will at least have a fresh parallel storyline to track as Cameron tries to keep building momentum. [Read more 🡒]
Jaguars Rookies Are Already Creating A Week 1 Divide
The Jaguars rookie class already came with some early-week sorting in the opener against Cleveland, with the coaching staff showing right away which first-year players were ready to be part of the game plan and which ones would have to wait. Josh Cameron got a real taste of it in his debut, seeing the field and finishing with a touchdown catch, while other rookies were dressed but never got into the game as the team worked through its depth chart and injury-related decisions.
Wesley Williams, Tanner Koziol and Jalen Huskey were among the newcomers who did not play, a reminder that making the roster is only the first step for first-year players on a team still figuring out how to use its pieces. Jacksonville also had to adjust by elevating Bryan Thomas Jr. after BJ Greens injury, another sign that the rookie groups roles may keep shifting as the season settles in. [Read more 🡒]
Jaguars Just Forced A Bigger Week 2 Debate Than Fans Expected
The Jaguars did what good opening-week teams are supposed to do: they took care of business, beat the Browns decisively, and left enough of an impression that the national conversation shifted almost immediately. In the first wave of postgame power rankings, Jacksonville kept climbing as analysts rewarded the kind of complete showing that can make an early September win feel more meaningful than the final score alone.
Now the bigger question is how quickly that momentum turns into a real test of where this team belongs. The rankings bump says plenty about the way Jacksonville looked in Week 1, but the next stretch will tell the more important story, because the Jaguars now have to prove that one strong outing was the start of something, not just a polished first step. [Read more 🡒]