5 NFL teams who are instant contenders with Trevor Lawrence

Of all the teams listed here, the San Francisco 49ers are the ultimate pipe dream destination for Lawrence. If you put him in Kyle Shanahan‘s offense with John Lynch assembling a team around him, you’re looking at the 21st century version of Joe Montana and Bill Walsh in the Bay Area. Unfortunately, the 49ers will be too good to draft Lawrence because they have Jimmy Garoppolo.

It’s hard to say what the 2020 49ers will end up being. They were terrible two years ago when Garoppolo tore his ACL in September. After having the No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, the 49ers went on to represent the NFC in Super Bowl 54. Though Shanahan is an offensive guru, defensive prowess is what ultimately catapulted the 49ers to the NFL’s upper echelon last year.

If Lawrence were to replace Garropolo, the 49ers offense should still be fine under Shanahan, as he’ll lean heavily on the ground game with his family’s secret sauce that is the zone blocking scheme. Admittedly, it will take a few years for Lawrence to master Shanahan’s complex passing offense, but he’ll definitely get there by year two. Just look at who’s played under Shanahan.

Not to say in 2021 Lawrence will be an NFL MVP version of Matt Ryan with the Atlanta Falcons, but the 49ers could be the first team to win a Super Bowl with a rookie starting quarterback. The biggest issue besides actually getting him for the 49ers is they play in the same division as the Seattle Seahawks. Having a top-two quarterback in football in Russell Wilson is a tough matchup.