Down in Duval, QB Trevor Lawrence eagerly waits for the
2024 season to be underway and is chomping at the bit to redeem himself from
last season’s less-than-impressive outing.
I guess that you could say Trevor has somewhat catlike instincts (3 years as Clemson Tiger, 3 years as a Jaguar) that he is ready to unveil to the world
coming in roughly two weeks at the start of the NFL season. Trevor undoubtedly had a tough season last
year. His numbers weren’t bad, yet it's still
less than we’d expect of a player of his caliber. He accounted for 21 pass TDs and produced
just over 4,000 pass yards but also threw 14 INTs. I know the NFL is a whole lot faster than
college football and the defenses are much stouter than units you’ll see at the
collegiate level; however, Lawrence's 14 turnovers last season accounted for the
second most he’s had throughout his past 6 seasons (3yrs college & 3yrs
NFL). In his rookie season (2021) we saw him throw 17 INTs, which matched his combined overall total throughout his collegiate career. With his sophomore
season as a Jag, he recorded only 8 interceptions while throwing for 25 TDs. Last season, the talented Trevor Lawrence
threw fewer TDs (21) while also regressing in turnovers tossing 14 picks.
I already pointed out that Trevor needs to
do a better job in the turnover department if he wants to make another playoff
appearance this season after breaking the hearts of Jacksonville fans last year
when they missed out on post-season play after an abysmal second half of the
season. The Jaguars started out great
last year going 6-2 the first eight weeks of the season, going on 5 game
winning streak weeks 4-8. They even had
a favorable bye week smack dab in the middle of the year. Everything seemed to be going their way until
they came back from their week nine bye where it is safe to say they were
slaughtered by the eventual NFC Super Bowl representatives; the San Francisco forty-niners
allowed a total combined 221 yards (162 pass yds, 59 rush yds) and held this
Jags team to just a field goal (34-3). The
following two games they did show up against both division rivals, Titans &
Texans outscoring both opponents (58-35).
Then the traumatic fall hit them like a sack of bricks as they
went on to drop four straight games, five of their final six, four crucial AFC conference
matchups, ultimately losing them a playoff spot. It was largely an atrocious second half as
they went on a downward spiral going 3-6 over their last nine games.
Jacksonville’s GM Trent Baalke exhausted all avenues bringing in a ton of talent during the offseason with high hopes of turning things around quickly. Especially, having last year’s surprisingly robust Houston Texans within the same division as the Jags. The team moved on from wideout Calvin Ridley among some other talents on the offense. Then they turned around and drafted one of last year’s best WRs in the nation in Brian Thomas Jr. Brian played out his whole college career at LSU but wasn’t widely recognized as a top WR until he went all out last year and produced as a superstar type of WR. The numbers he posted are miraculous, though we should also give some props to the man who threw him the ball, ex-LSU QB and Washington Commanders' new starter, Jayden Daniels. Through 13 games he recorded 68 recs, 1,177 yds, & 17 TDs. His explosive speed matched by the ability to win vertically is a testament to how he led the nation in 2023 with a 99.9 PFF in terms of deep receiving grade & 12 deep TDs. He looks to become an instant threat of potentially becoming Lawrence’s number 1 option, but he could use improvement as an overall route runner.
Some of the other players Jacksonville brought in this offseason were a couple of WRs to help upgrade this core group with the signings of ex-Bills wideout Gabe Davis and previously Baltimore’s WR Devin Duvernay. They already have a great pass catcher in Christian Kirk, and the league leader in receptions for all tight ends last season, Evan Engram. Not only did Engram lead all tight ends in catches but also fourth in the entire NFL in that category. The only players that managed to haul in more passes last season were CeeDee Lamb, Tyreek Hill, & Amon-Ra St. Brown. He was also third in receiving yards for all TEs less than 40 yards from 1,000 yards on the year. They certainly have the talent to propel Trevor Lawrence to a top-tier QB and Jacksonville is hoping for that to come to fruition after getting a new deal done with him earlier this offseason. Lawrence was inked to a new contract on June 13th when the Jaguars signed him to a five-year, $275M extension, then at the time making him the highest-paid QB in the league (tied with Joe Burrow).
Head
Coach Doug Pederson is going into year three as Jacksonville’s coach and still
feels he has a lot to prove. Pederson
already has two rings as he was on the Packers' Super Bowl team when they
defeated the New England Patriots back in 1996 (Super Bowl XXXI) then again as
a head coach for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2018.
I’m sure if you were to ask him which was the more meaningful win, he'd probably say the win as a coach. Doug
is one of few people who can brag about beating the Patriots on more than one
occasion in a Super Bowl, however the Patriots of the late 90’s were a
completely different team and were not yet the dynasty that they eventually
turned into from 2000’s-2010’s largely in part because of the two G.O.A.T.S (HC
Bill Belichick & QB Tom Brady). What
GM Baalke has accomplished in the offseason should have Coach Pederson feeling jubilant
not just with the WRs he was able to swing deals with & draft but also for
the upgrades to the O-Line when they inked both G Erza Cleveland & a good center Mitch Morse to deals in hopes of solidifying the interior of this line.
Once
known as Sacksonville for the elite pass rush that the Jaguars had built not
too many years ago, has been long gone in the past few years. While attempting to bring this defense back to a
respected unit league-wide, the Jags also brought in some veteran leadership
and smart football-minded players who will definitely change the perspective of
this defense’s overall talent level. A
deal was struck with a monster of a DT in Arik Armstead, they also resigned
their own defensive tackle Jeremiah Ledbetter for added depth. Then they went out and tremendously upgraded
their defensive back play by inking cornerback Ronald Darby and veteran safety Darnell Savage. I like what I see out of Jacksonville, and I
believe they will have a lot more fight in them this year, of course barring
any injuries to pivotal players on their team.
This AFC South division seems to have turned the corner in being the
least impressive division in all of the AFC after last year’s big surprise in the
Texans. The Colts also look to be improved with a healthy second-year versatile stud at the helm in QB
Anthony Richardson. Jacksonville
themselves are only two years removed from a playoff appearance and AFC South title after last year’s postseason spot was taken from them with only 2-3 weeks
remaining in the season. Tennessee is the only questionable team in this division right now with new HC Brian Callahan
and new coordinators on both offense & defense.
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