Will Trevor Lawrence shine in 2022? See how past Jaguars QBs have fared as second-year starters

Trevor Lawrence is on the clock.

The 2021 No. 1 draft pick begins his second season on a Jaguars team that's all too familiar with finishing last.

So what kind of improvement can fans expect from the former Clemson star, playing under a new offense with a new head coach (Doug Pederson) and some new receiving options (Christian Kirk, Zay Jones, Evan Engram)?

Even for the Jaguars' most effective quarterbacks over the franchise's 27 years and counting on the First Coast, success hasn't necessarily come all at once.

Here's a look at how Jaguars quarterbacks have fared in their second year as a regular starter with the franchise.

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Mark Brunell

1995: 201 of 346 (58.1 percent), 2,168 yards, 15 TD, 7 INT, 82.6 rating; 480 rushing yards (13 games/10 starts)

1996: 353 of 557 (63.4 percent), 4,367 yards, 19 TD, 20 INT, 84.0 rating; 396 rushing yards (16 games/16 starts)

Analysis: Acquired from the Green Bay Packers, Brunell began his Jaguars career on the bench behind Steve Beuerlein. But he saw action against the Oilers and Bengals before starting Week 3 against the Jets and coming off the bench to lead the first-ever Jags victory in Houston, starting 10 games in all. The 1996 campaign proved far better: Brunell improved his completion percentage and settled down after an erratic start (eight picks in his first five games, then five interceptions against St. Louis on Oct. 20). Always exciting outside the pocket, Brunell energized the Jaguars' turnaround from a 4-7 record to the playoffs, following with playoff upsets of Buffalo and Denver. Brunell's 29-yard scramble and his 17-yard touchdown strike to a diving Jimmy Smith at Mile High rank among the unforgettable moments in Jaguars history.

Byron Leftwich

2003: 239 of 418 (57.2 percent), 2,819 yards, 14 TD, 16 INT, 73.0 rating; 108 rushing yards (15 games/13 starts)

2004: 267 of 441 (60.5 percent), 2,941 yards, 15 TD, 10 INT, 82.2 rating; 148 rushing yards (14 games/14 starts)

Analysis: It took only three games for Jack Del Rio to decide that Leftwich, selected at No. 7 in the 2003 NFL Draft after the Vikings bizarrely failed to submit their pick on time, was ready to take over for longtime starter Brunell. The rookie from Marshall, a notoriously slow starter (67.0 career rating in first quarters) with a knack for late rallies, struggled in year one but picked up the pace at the start of 2004. The Jags entered Halloween at 5-2. Leftwich had passed for 66 percent completion in five straight games with  298 or more yards in four of them. But Leftwich took a low hit from Texans lineman Gary Walker, injured his knee, played on for 31 more snaps, lost the game, missed a month and didn't complete more than 60 percent of his passes in any of the remaining games as the Jaguars' playoff hopes evaporated.

David Garrard

2006: 145 of 241 (58.3 percent), 1,735 yards, 10 TD, 9 INT, 80.5 rating; 250 rushing yards (11 games/10 starts)

2007: 208 of 325 (60.2 percent), 2,509 yards, 18 TD, 3 INT, 102.2 rating, 185 rushing yards (12 games/12 starts)

Analysis: The evolution of Garrard's career is much less clear-cut than other Jacksonville starting quarterbacks. The Jaguars drafted him in 2002, but he remained on the bench for years behind Brunell and Leftwich (eight starts over his first four seasons), didn't get significant starting time until 2006 and wasn't the undisputed QB until Jack Del Rio cut Leftwich just before the start of the 2007 season. But there's no question about Garrard's improvement for 2007. He raised his completion percentage, posted the NFL's best interception percentage (0.9 percent) and led the Jaguars to the AFC divisional playoffs, complete with a memorable postseason triumph over Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers at Heinz Field. Garrard's 102.2 quarterback rating in 2007 remains the highest ever over a full season for a Jaguars QB.

Blaine Gabbert

2011: 210 of 413 (50.8 percent), 2,214 yards, 12 TD, 11 INT, 65.4 rating; 98 rushing yards (15 games/14 starts)

2012: 162 of 278 (58.3 percent), 1,662 yards, 9 TD, 6 INT, 77.4 rating; 56 rushing yards (10 games/10 starts)

Analysis: It wasn't an auspicious beginning for Gabbert against Carolina in his first start in 2011 — neither the quarterback nor his teammates recognized that the clock had restarted after a last-minute review and time ran out on a rally. Not a lot went right in Jacksonville for Gabbert, who often appeared tentative and completed barely half his passes during his rookie season. The bad news for the 2011 first-round draft choice from Missouri: year two was only a little better. Gabbert did boost his completion percentage to 58.3 percent and slightly cut down his interception percentage (2.8 to 2.2 percent), but he won only one game and got knocked out for the season with a Nov. 18 elbow injury against Houston.

Blake Bortles

2014: 280 of 475 (58.9 percent), 2,908 yards, 11 TD, 17 INT, 69.5 rating; 419 rushing yards (14 games/13 starts)

2015: 355 of 606 (58.6 percent), 4,428 yards, 35 TD, 18 INT, 88.2 rating; 310 rushing yards (16 games/16 starts)

Analysis: Another first-round quarterback, another result that proved less than a home run, the drive to the 2017 AFC Championship Game aside. Bortles' second-year rating of 88.2 was actually his highest in Jacksonville and he conducted four game-winning drives, as many as the rest of his career combined. But the former UCF quarterback completed a lower percentage of his passes than in his rookie campaign, he led the NFL in interceptions and a significant number of his 4,428 yards — still a single-season record in Jags history — were amassed after the game was in essence lost.

Gardner Minshew

2019: 285 of 470 (60.6 percent), 3,271 yards, 21 TD, 6 INT, 91.2 rating; 344 rushing yards (14 games/12 starts)

2020: 216 of 327 (66.1 percent), 2,259 yards, 16 TD, 5 INT, 95.9 rating; 153 rushing yards (9 games/8 starts)

Analysis: Who owns the highest quarterback rating in Jaguars history? It's Minshew, not Brunell, Leftwich, Garrard or even Bortles, going back to the wacky year-plus that was Minshew Mania on the First Coast. The start of his debut season inspired a brief surge of excitement on an otherwise dismal team, winning six games. By some statistical measures, Minshew was better in year two, but the magic had worn off. A thumb injury sidelined him for portions of the year, and he was benched in favor of Mike Glennon and later Jake Luton.

Trevor Lawrence

2021: 359 of 602 (59.6 percent), 3,641 yards, 12 TD, 17 INT, 71.9 rating; 334 rushing yards (17 games/17 starts)

2022: To be determined.

Analysis: In Lawrence's rookie season, he displayed flashes of the skills that made him the No. 1 overall draft pick and one of the NFL's most anticipated rookie quarterbacks of the past decade. But like most of the team, Lawrence endured more downs than ups during an all-around dreary Jaguars season, showing lapses in accuracy and struggling inside the red zone. He's only had one preseason with Doug Pederson on the sidelines rather than Urban Meyer, but Lawrence delivered several excellent throws in the Jaguars' exhibition campaign.

Clayton Freeman covers high school sports and more for the Florida Times-Union. Follow him on Twitter at @CFreemanJAX.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars quarterbacks in second year: From Mark Brunell to Trevor Lawrence