Finebaum: Trevor Lawrence a better NFL prospect than Tua Tagovailoa

The honor of being the best quarterback in college football is up for debate, but most would admit that it’s a two man race between Tua Tagovailoa and Trevor Lawrence.

Their teams─Alabama and Clemson, respectively─have met each other in the College Football Playoff in each of the last four straight seasons, and both have won the national championship twice.

As to which player is better between the two, SEC Network analyst Paul Finebaum believes he has the answer.

“It’s Trevor Lawrence,” Finebaum told ESPN when asked which would make the better

NFL prospect in the future.

“He’s a little bigger, he has more command, and he was just really unbelievable. When you
stand on the field as we all did at the national championship game and watch him, he peers
over everyone. He was in total control. Remember last year, when Kelly Bryant was the
starter coming off of a playoff berth the year before? He lost his job four games into the
season, and Trevor never looked back.”

Between the two, Lawrence has a national championship after Clemson routed Alabama, 44-16, in the title game in January, but the Tigers and the Crimson Tide are expected to compete for the crown again in 2019 and both players are favorites to win the Heisman Trophy.

Lawrence could widen the gap between himself and Tagovailoa, given the Clemson signal caller hasn’t even had a full season under his belt as the starter.

“I think he’s one of the best prospects I’ve seen in a long time,” Finebaum said.

“I don’t want to start that drum because he still has another year after this, but right now he’s better. I wouldn’t say significantly better, but he’s a better prospect than Tua. He could be significantly better a year from now.”

Both players were five star recruits, according to the industry-generated 247Sports
Composite, and Lawrence was crowned as the No. 1 player in the country by that service in
the 2018 signing class.