Our biases easily allow us to anchor to excuses that upon deeper reflection over time, are flawed. The entire Trevor Lawrence "first year doesn't count" excuse is one example in my view. It's based solely on the fact that he was so overhyped by so many as the obvious #1 selection and "a generational talent" that the entire media industrial complex quickly coalesced around Meyer as the problem, rather than facing their own incorrect assessment that was apparent out of the gate.
If Lawrence went #9, for example, you wouldn't hear of Meyer today. But, he went #1 and a narrative was quickly spun to alleviate the necessity of uttering the four most difficult words to say - "I was wrong about.. " That proved especially easy after the Zach Smith and Chris Doyle debacles from Meyer. The media hated Meyer, and went gunning for him from Day 1. Lawrence was the prime beneficiary of those efforts, and those benefits continue to be paid.
History teaches if we care to look. One frequent criticism of Meyer in 2021 was that he was too "uninvolved" with the team - deferring to his Coordinators too much, particularly on offense, not flying with the team and hanging out in Columbus. "Where was Meyer?" was a frequent inquiry. Per media reports at the time, OC Darrell Bevell ran the entire offensive show...including Lawrence. So much so, that ownership quickly named Bevell Interim Head Coach when Meyer was sent packing after only 13 weeks.
So how did Meyer have such an enormous impact over so little time that we still trot out today when discussing "Trevor" as the media is so fond of calling him? Meyer was hardly around and not for long...yet, an excuse was crafted that fed the bias demons swirling in the media's heads. It stuck...it was all Urban's fault and it was all just too easy.
More than two years later with supposed quarterback whisperer Doug Pederson, and Lawrence sits at a pedestrian #16 as Pederson's seat grows warmer. As Bill Rutherford, the Princeton academic recruiter in Risky Business would say about Lawrence, "your stats are very respectable...you've done some solid work here...but it's not quite #1 now is it?"
The question remains, when does the statute of limitations run on the Meyer excuse and we start viewing Lawrence by his record alone?
I think most people are beyond the Meyer excuse at this point with Lawrence. That first year was clearly a bad situation, from his offensive line to the receivers around him, to whatever was allegedly going on behind the scenes. There seems to be clear improvement from that first year now that Pederson is leading the charge. But you're right, that first year wasn't just on the environment Lawrence was in. Lawrence himself was doing puzzling things. Ed wrote about it between his first and second season: https://footballfilmroom.substack.com/p/can-trevor-lawrence-have-a-year-2?utm_source=publication-search
The improvement to date hasn't been enough, and I agree, the generational talent talk was ridiculous. Lawrence has turned into a nice QB and still has potential but it clearly hasn't met expectations. And that's a result of Lawrence more so than Meyer/Pederson/whoever.
Our biases easily allow us to anchor to excuses that upon deeper reflection over time, are flawed. The entire Trevor Lawrence "first year doesn't count" excuse is one example in my view. It's based solely on the fact that he was so overhyped by so many as the obvious #1 selection and "a generational talent" that the entire media industrial complex quickly coalesced around Meyer as the problem, rather than facing their own incorrect assessment that was apparent out of the gate.
If Lawrence went #9, for example, you wouldn't hear of Meyer today. But, he went #1 and a narrative was quickly spun to alleviate the necessity of uttering the four most difficult words to say - "I was wrong about.. " That proved especially easy after the Zach Smith and Chris Doyle debacles from Meyer. The media hated Meyer, and went gunning for him from Day 1. Lawrence was the prime beneficiary of those efforts, and those benefits continue to be paid.
History teaches if we care to look. One frequent criticism of Meyer in 2021 was that he was too "uninvolved" with the team - deferring to his Coordinators too much, particularly on offense, not flying with the team and hanging out in Columbus. "Where was Meyer?" was a frequent inquiry. Per media reports at the time, OC Darrell Bevell ran the entire offensive show...including Lawrence. So much so, that ownership quickly named Bevell Interim Head Coach when Meyer was sent packing after only 13 weeks.
So how did Meyer have such an enormous impact over so little time that we still trot out today when discussing "Trevor" as the media is so fond of calling him? Meyer was hardly around and not for long...yet, an excuse was crafted that fed the bias demons swirling in the media's heads. It stuck...it was all Urban's fault and it was all just too easy.
More than two years later with supposed quarterback whisperer Doug Pederson, and Lawrence sits at a pedestrian #16 as Pederson's seat grows warmer. As Bill Rutherford, the Princeton academic recruiter in Risky Business would say about Lawrence, "your stats are very respectable...you've done some solid work here...but it's not quite #1 now is it?"
The question remains, when does the statute of limitations run on the Meyer excuse and we start viewing Lawrence by his record alone?
I think most people are beyond the Meyer excuse at this point with Lawrence. That first year was clearly a bad situation, from his offensive line to the receivers around him, to whatever was allegedly going on behind the scenes. There seems to be clear improvement from that first year now that Pederson is leading the charge. But you're right, that first year wasn't just on the environment Lawrence was in. Lawrence himself was doing puzzling things. Ed wrote about it between his first and second season: https://footballfilmroom.substack.com/p/can-trevor-lawrence-have-a-year-2?utm_source=publication-search
The improvement to date hasn't been enough, and I agree, the generational talent talk was ridiculous. Lawrence has turned into a nice QB and still has potential but it clearly hasn't met expectations. And that's a result of Lawrence more so than Meyer/Pederson/whoever.