Dabo Swinney Sticks Up for Trevor Lawrence and Compares Him to Deshaun Watson

Trevor Lawrence has been largely underwhelming under center this year for the Clemson Tigers. After lighting the NCAA on fire in 2018 with his electric and almost flawless play, Lawrence has made far more mistakes and fewer impressive passes in 2019.

His performance against Louisville didn't help things either. He threw two first-quarter interceptions en route to a 45-10 win, bringing his season total to eight picks, twice as many as he threw all of last season.

But Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney isn't going to let the sophomore's struggles define him. The beloved coach stuck up for Lawrence, comparing his struggles to the likes of Deshaun Watson, saying that he learns and grows from his mistakes, but he doesn't let them define him.

Perhaps it was unwise of the college football world to think that Lawrence was going to improve on his downright phenomenal performance from last year. After all, it's called a 'sophomore slump' for a reason.

The important thing is that he learns from his mistakes. Provided he's taking the most out the misplays he's made this year, there's not much cause for concern. Watson has turned out to be quite the star in the NFL, so there's absolutely no shame in making the same mistakes he did in college.

And at the end of the day, it's not like Lawrence has been abysmal. He entered Saturday having completed 62.7% of his passes for 1,301 yards and 11 touchdowns, and he tacked on 233 yards and three more touchdowns on top of that against Louisville.

His performance just feels disappointing because he looked downright immortal during Clemson's undefeated season last year.

As long as he's growing this year and Swinney recognizes that, there should be no problem with him moving forward.