Trevor Lawrence “probably knew sometime in March” that he’d be the first overall pick

[Jaxson De Ville]

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For media and fans, there was no mystery regarding the fact that Trevor Lawrence would be the first overall pick in the draft. For Lawrence, there wasn’t much of a mystery, either.

“I’m a guy that never really wants to put the cart before the horse,” Lawrence told PFT PM on Wednesday regarding when he knew he’d be the selection. “I didn’t make many assumptions. I probably knew sometime in March. I was thinking like, ‘This is probably going in this direction.’ You never want to say for sure that something’s going to happen. I was keeping all my options open and just trying to stay ready for whatever. I knew that was likely going to be the spot where I land. I kind of figured there.”

In a video recently posted by the Jaguars, G.M. Trent Baalke explained that the league wanted them to wait at least seven of the 10 allotted minutes before turning in the card. So the Jaguars waited to call Lawrence. The first three calls went to voicemail, with the message that the mailbox hasn’t been set up.

So what happened?

“I don’t know, honestly,” Lawrence said. “I was sitting there by my phone. Had my Bose headphones in there, just waiting. I live kind of in the woods in South Carolina. That was where my place was and the service was terrible. I guess that’s what it was. People were texting me like, ‘I didn’t know you hung up on them three times in a row.’ And I’m like, ‘I didn’t even get the calls.’”

Lawrence still hasn’t set up his voicemail box, by the way.

“I can’t set up a voicemail to let them know they got the right number if they’re trying to call me,” he said, laughing.