Trevor Lawrence and Joe Burrow are scheduled to have their first pro meeting on Sept. 30, when the Jacksonville Jaguars take on the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium. Go ahead and mark the calendars.
But will either of these former first-overall picks be exceptional this season? CBS Sports senior NFL reporter Jonathan Jones harbors doubts.
"Can I pass on this question?" Jones told the Reiter Than You show Thursday. "Trevor Lawrence, we're still waiting on those couple of throws. When's the last time you logged onto Twitter and you were like, 'You know what, Trevor Lawrence is making plays despite what's happening around him'? When you ask me about Joe Burrow, I don't think there's a track record there with the head coach and certainly not with the group around him...
"And with Trevor Lawrence, I see the Jaguars kind of shooting themselves in the foot. A lot of self-inflicted wounds with this team -- starting, of course, with Urban Meyer. Because everything begins and ends with Urban Meyer on that team. So, you're asking me to pick between those two, I'm sorry, I have to cop out. I have to say push."
Through two preseason games, Lawrence has completed 20 of 32 passes for 184 yards with no touchdowns, no interceptions, and one fumble. While these numbers aren't discouraging, the Jaguars' first-string offense has scored just three total points in the first three quarters of both games. On Wednesday, the Jaguars officially announced that Lawrence won the starting quarterback job.
Burrow, who's fully recovered from an ACL injury that curtailed his rookie season in 2020, completed 65.3-percent of his passes for 2,688 yards with 13 touchdowns in 10 games. Prior to suffering his season-ending injury during Week 11, Burrow had been hit a whopping 72 times through nine games. Since 2000, only New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones has been hit more as a rookie in the first nine games.
On Sept. 12, the Jaguars will open their 2021 campaign in Houston against the Texans, while the Bengals will open at home opposing the Minnesota Vikings.
The entire NFL conversation between Jones and Reiter can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow the Reiter Than You show on Twitter @sportsreiter and @CBSSportsRadio, and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.