He was the talk of college football, the freshman phenom from Cartersville, Ga. who took his transcendental talents to Clemson.
And on the other side of the field from Trevor Lawrence stood Daniel Jones.
They will meet again Sunday in Jacksonville when the 5-1 Giants seek their fourth win in a row against the Jaguars four years after mighty undefeated Trevor Lawrence and Clemson outclassed Jones and Duke 35-6 on a Saturday night in Death Valley.
“They were a good team, they had tons of talent,” Jones recalled for The Post. “It was fun going into Death Valley and playing. A lot of respect for him and all he’s accomplished in his collegiate and pro career.”
It was by no means a fair fight: Lawrence was surrounded by elite predators and current Jags running back Travis Etienne while Jones was tasked with carrying a team devoid of blue-chip talent for as long as he could.
“I think that was by far the best D-line I played in college,” Jones said, “and luckily we got one of those guys on our team now.”
That would be Dexter Lawrence, who was alongside fellow first-round draft picks Christian Wilkins and Clelin Ferrell and fourth-rounder Austin Bryant. Nine of the 11 starters from that national championship Clemson defense were NFL draft picks.
“He was actually whupping us up pretty good in the first half,” Lawrence said, “then we just came out and adjusted.
At the end of the day, Lawrence (21-for-38, 251 yards, 26 rushing yards) had outdueled Jones (24-for-43, 158 yards, 7 rushing yards), who was forced to bring a water pistol to a gunfight.
“But we knew that was probably the best quarterback we were gonna see throughout the whole season, and he was. It was just a game that the guys up front really anticipated because we wanted to go against a talent like him. He challenged us, but at the end of the day, ‘Go Tigers.’ ”
Jones reached the same conclusion about The Kid that all the other opposing quarterbacks have through the years when asked what impressed him about Lawrence.
“His poise in handling the situation he was in,” Jones said. “I thought he delivered time and time again, throws the ball really well, accurate, able to kinda run the whole show and make plays. I was always impressed with him.”
Jones did stun the crowd engineering a pair of field-goal drives for a 6-0 lead in the first quarter.
“We made some plays, but just couldn’t do enough down the stretch,” Jones said.
Jones trailed 21-6 when a 13-play drive in the third quarter ended with a missed field goal. Asked what stood out to him about Jones, Lawrence said: “Just like how he just took control of his offense. He didn’t have much talent, but he just took control of checking plays, checking out of this.”
The fact that Jones refused to ever check out in the face of adversity was one of the key traits that caused former general manager Dave Gettleman to fall in love with him during the 2019 NFL Draft process. The Tigers sacked Jones four times and Lawrence batted away two passes.
“I also hit him, too — alo,” Dexter Lawrence said.
But he kept getting up.
“Yeah he kept getting up,” Dexter Lawrence said.
He sure was glad Trevor Lawrence (no relation) was on his side.
“Just how talented his arm was,” Dexter Lawrence said. “He definitely earned the position to start. He took us all the way to The Promised Land … it was just good to see how good of a leader he was.
“You know, that’s my long lost brother, so I gotta whup up on him this week, so that’s gonna be fun.”
Will that be strange?
“I’m just gonna tell him, ‘Shut the f— up,’ if he’s calling a play or something,” Sexy Dexy said, and laughed. “Just to be funny, you know, get in his head a little bit.”
Dexter Lawrence managed to get in Jones’ head following the 2019 draft.
“We were roommates for rookie minicamp and OTAs and stuff, we talked about that game a lot,” Jones said, “but I’m glad I don’t have to play against him anymore.”
Was he giving you crap about the game?
“Yeah a little bit,” Jones said, “but they won, so you gotta take it.”
Now Daniel Jones and Trevor Lawrence meet again as pros.
Doug Pederson on Daniel Jones: “You don’t go to sleep on Daniel Jones because he can beat you with his legs.”
Much fairer fight this time.
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