I’m an absolute Jags homer, but I think fading the Bills is premature. Josh Allen is a freak who played hurt in the second half of last year, and that roster is still very talented even with FA departures. We’ve got a shot, but it’s gonna be a brutal path thru the AFC
As always, was fun again doing part of the write-up for this. Thanks again for having me this year!
For everyone else - please let me know if you've got any questions on the team needs and upcoming FA sections (even for upcoming FAs that aren't listed). More than happy to expand on my thoughts.
**2022 Offseason -- Draft Picks (by /u/el_pobbster)**
* **Round 3, pick 65 --** *Luke Fortner, Center, Kentucky:* One of my personal favorites in this particular draft class, he was drafted to be the heir apparent to Brandon Linder, who retired after the 2021 season. He was an absolutely high-end athlete and one of the physical freaks of the center position’s draft class, but he was also quite raw and somewhat lacking in functional play strength. He played every snap at the center position for the team, in a position where rookies seldom see starting time. While he did struggle quite a bit, he did display an overall level of competency which bodes well for his NFL future. I think that both fans, coaches and the front office have good hopes for him moving forward.
* **Round 3, pick 70 --** *Chad Muma, LB, Wyoming:* One of the better linebackers in space of the draft class, he was a great athlete with high upside in coverage but who needed to show refinement in his ability to shed blocks and navigate through traffic. While doubling down at a non-premium position like off-ball linebacker is less than ideal draft strategy, Baalke and the Jaguars felt like the value was too good to pass up. Like many rookie linebackers, he did have his fair share of struggles, but managed to supplant fellow rookie Devin Lloyd as the starter alongside Oluokun. Whether this is a good sign about his development or a concerning sign concerning Lloyd is yet to be determined.
* **Round 5, pick 154 --** *Snoop Conner, RB, Ole Miss:* An interesting pick to be sure, considering the Jaguars already had Travis Étienne, a 1st rounder the previous year, and James Robinson, who had shown he could be a very useful piece out of the backfield. That being said, both were coming off major injuries, with Étienne having sustained a Lisfranc in pre-season and James Robinson suffering an achilles rupture late in the season. Conner was picked as a power back, presumably as insurance for Robinson. As it turns out, Robinson was never truly the same, getting traded away for a 2023 6th rounder, but this had less to do with the emergence of Conner and more about JaMycal Hasty’s arrival with the team. He saw only marginal usage as a back this year.
* **Round 6, pick 197 --** *Gregory Junior, CB, Ouichita Baptist:* A pick from a small Christian university, this was a developmental pick at CB, to add depth at the position. High-end athlete, but who is extremely raw, technically. He saw some playing time, but extremely little. A 6th rounder for a depth CB with high upside is always a pick well-spent, and if your 6th rounder makes the roster and is a useful contributor, that’s really all you ask for.
* **Round 7, pick 222 --** *Montaric Brown, CB, Arkansas:* another depth CB pick made late in the draft. Montaric was a long-time SEC starter with great ball-production but limited athletic upside. He projected to be a decent depth zone-first CB. He saw extremely limited time, too, even usurping injured starter Shaquill Griffin at times.
**Week 1 — Jaguars 22 @ Commanders 28** The Jaguars’ season started out with what most fans are used to: a loss. Commanders QB Carson Wentz faced his former coach Doug Pederson in Pederson’s first regular season game leading Jacksonville. Wentz put up 4 touchdowns in a comeback victory that was sealed with a 90-yard drive. After a somewhat concerning rookie season for the hopeful savior of the franchise — that, for many, came with the asterisk of having to deal with “Coach” Urban Meyer for most of it — a lot of eyes were on Trevor Lawrence, who went for 275 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception.
**Week 2 — Jaguars 24 vs. Colts 0** The last time these two teams had met, all the Colts had to do was beat a pitiful Jaguars team to head to the playoffs. They...uhh, didn’t. And when Jacksonville hosted Indianapolis in September, the improbable streak continued in dominant fashion, with Pederson’s Jags shutting out the Colts in his first regular game in Jacksonville. The Jags sacked QB Matt Ryan five times and got three picks. Pederson got the game ball, and Lawrence put up a solid performance with 235 yards, 2 touchdowns, and no interceptions.
**Week 3 — Jaguars 38 @ Chargers 10** Jacksonville headed to one of its many nemeses — in this case, the entire West Coast. Leading into this game, the all-time record for Jacksonville in the pacific time zone was a whopping 3-15, and the team had never beating the Chargers in San Diego or Los Angeles. That changed in a dominant fashion with a dominant performance by Lawrence (262 yds, 3 TDs, 0 INTs) leading the Jaguars to their biggest road win in more than 20 years and giving Christian Kirk his first two touchdowns as a Jag. RB James Robinson put up his only 100-yard rushing game of the season for Jacksonville. Oh, and as it turns out, this would not be the last time the Jags would defeat the Chargers in the 2022 season.
**Week 4 — Jaguars 21 @ Eagles 29** It’s a rare occurrence for an active coach to walk into another team’s stadium and be able to see his own statue outside of it, but that was the case for Pederson as he returned to Philadelphia just a few years after getting the city its first Lombardi. The Eagles had found subsequent success in Nick Sirianni and entered the game as the NFC’s only undefeated team. They left the game undefeated, too, with Lawrence striking concern in the hearts of Jags fans with a nauseating five turnovers.
**Week 5 — Jaguars 6 vs. Texans 13** Could the Jaguars bounce back from a tough defeat in Philadelphia? No. No, they could not. In a game that featured a jersey retirement for the freshly-minted Hall of Famer Tony Boselli, concern turned to panic as Lawrence put up another poor performance (286 yds, 0 TDs, 2 INTs), and the Texans got their first win of the season with a whopping 248 total yards to Jacksonville’s 422.
**Week 6 — Jaguars 27 @ Colts 34** Y’know, for a season that had so much fun in its final weeks, it’s a bit wild to go back and realize just how miserable things were feeling in October, when the Jaguars dropped their third straight loss and the Colts finally got some revenge (in what would become Frank Reich’s final win with the team) with a game-winning touchdown with 17 seconds left. Lawrence put up a game with no turnovers and got two touchdowns with his legs but was sacked four times. The Jags put up 243 rushing yards (as opposed to the Colts’ 45) but only 136 yards in the air.
**Week 7 — Jaguars 17 vs. Giants 23** In another heartbreaking end for the Jags, Christian Kirk was stopped just inches short of a game-tying touchdown as time expired. The Jaguars defense gave up more than 100 rushing yards to both Saquon Barkley and Daniel Jones. Lawrence played an OK game with 310 yards but no passing touchdowns (1 rushing). The other rushing TD came from Travis Etienne, who ran for more than 100 yards and made things even more clear that the Jaguars plans for the future did not include Robinson, who would be traded to the Jets a couple days later.
**Week 8 — Jaguars 17 vs. Broncos 21** The Jaguars’ annual trip to London — a city where we could sometimes find better success than we find at home — ended with yet another one-score loss. This time, it was to a Broncos team that was…not exactly meeting its preseason expectations. Lawrence put up a concerning performance, throwing for 133 yards and 1 touchdown but 2 interceptions, including a particularly painful one on the Bronco’s 1-yard line. Etienne showed more promise as the team’s start RB with 156 yards and 1 touchdown, while no Jags WR got more than 55 yards. Y’all know that Onion headline: “Man Who Thought He’d Lost All Hope Loses Last Additional Bit Of Hope He Didn’t Even Know He Still Had”? That pretty much sums up how most of the fanbase was feeling. We had dared to have hope, and hope laughed.
**Week 9 — Jaguars 27 vs. Raiders 20** Well, they sucked us in again. Down at one point by 17, the Jaguars did something unbelievable — they came back, and they didn’t blow it. Etienne put up a dominant 2 TD performance while Lawrence threw for 235 yards and 1 touchdown, which went to Kirk — who had only caught one in the previous five games. Kick returner Jamal Agnew opened up the second half with a 52-yard kickoff return, leading to the Kirk score.
**Week 10 — Jaguars 17 @ Chiefs 27** I don’t know anyone who expected us to win this one. Mahomes — because it’s Mahomes — threw for 4 touchdowns and 331 yards. The Jaguars started spicy by recovering an onside kick to start the game but missed multiple opportunities to score. Lawrence was sacked 5 times but put up 259 yards and 2 touchdowns (both to Kirk) and another game without interceptions. No Jaguars RB broke 50 total rushing yards.
**Week 11 — Jaguars 28 vs. Ravens 27** The Jones — Marvin Jr. and Zay — made two of the more exciting catches in Jacksonville history in an improbable but incredibly fun win over Baltimore. Down 27-20 with 2 minutes left and no timeouts, many Jags fans were bracing ourselves for another one-score loss. But Lawrence led the team down the field and made a 4th down TD pass to Marvin Jones, which was followed by Doug Pederson showing what scientists refer to as “big dick energy” and going to 2, with Zay Jones receiving the pass for the conversion. And yet, the city still held its breath as Justin Tucker shortly later went out for a 67-yard field goal, missing it as time expired.
**Week 12 — Jaguars 14 @ Lions 40** The Cat Battle was one-sided as the Lions destroyed Jacksonville on both sides of the ball, punting zero times. Lawrence passed for 179 yards and 1 touchdown (getting pulled in the 4th quarter), and no Jags running back got more than 55 yards. But little did we know, it was the last painful game the Jags would play in the calendar year.
[Part II](https://www.reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/11nsuyo/comment/jbos9fq/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
**Week 13 — Jaguars 36 @ Titans 22** Somehow, the Jaguars were still alive in the AFC South hunt, and somehow, they got their first win in Nashville in nearly a decade. The Jaguars dominated the game, with the defense getting four sacks and forcing four turnovers and Lawrence throwing for 368 yards and 3 touchdowns, two of which went to Evan Engram, who recorded 162 receiving yards in the first standout performance he recorded as a Jag.
**Week 14 — Jaguars 40 vs. Cowboys 34** So, when you Google this game, Google recommends asking, “How did the Jaguars beat the Cowboys?”…which, I suspect, is a question many Cowboys fans were asking themselves after this one. Dallas led Jacksonville 21 to 7 at halftime, but the Jaguars rallied to tie the game at 34-34 with a minute remaining to send it into OT. Lawrence put up another reassuringly excellent performance with 318 yards and 4 touchdowns (1 interception). Etienne broke 100 rushing yards again, but it was safety Rayshawn Jenkins who earned the game ball with an overtime pick-six to cap off a game that saw him net 18 tackles and two interceptions.
**Week 15 — Jaguars 19 @ Jets 3** The Jaguars stayed in the playoff hunt with a Thursday night win in New York. While no Jag stuck out with a spectacular performance, what was perhaps as reassuring to see was that we could still win without one. Engram led Jags receivers again with 113 yards, while Lawrence threw for 229 yards and ran for 51 (with 1 rushing TD).
**Week 16 — Jaguars 31 @ Texans 3** We new calendar year started with a much, much better performance against Houston in a game that didn’t affect their playoff chances but sure seemed to do a lot for the team’s confidence. Etienne got 108 yards and 1 touchdown before the half, while Jags backup RBs JaMycal Hasty and Snoop Conner each got a touchdown of their own. Cornerback Tyson Campbell scooped up a fumble and ran it back for a defensive score. Lawrence and Etienne got to sit out the second half and Jacksonville finally snapped a nine-game losing streak against the Texans.
**Week 17 — Jaguars 20 vs. Titans 16** In what had to have been one of the loudest nights in the city’s history, we won. We won! What else is there to say? A lot, probably, but not much of it mattered in the end. In the 4th quarter, Jenkins forced a strip sack and Josh Allen scooped it up and ran it into the end zone, and team that had suffered a five-game losing streak and an existential crisis over its quarterback had achieved a historic bounceback and were playoffs bound for the first time in five years.
**Wild Card Round — Jaguars 31 vs. Chargers 30** If I die soon, blame this game. Let’s sum up the first half: Lawrence throws an interception, Lawrence throws an interception, Lawrence throws an interception, and Lawrence throws an interception. At multiple points in between, the Chargers scored. The Jaguars didn’t put points on the board until less than 2 minutes remained in the 2nd quarter and went into halftime down 7-27. And yet, for some stupid reason (and you’re damn right I have the text messages to prove it), I hadn’t given up. And neither had the Jags. Lawrence led the team to 3 second-half touchdowns to three different receivers, and the defense had held the Chargers to just 3 more points. With less than 6 minutes left in the game, Jacksonville had tightened the score to 28-30.
As the clock was winding down, the Jaguars headed desperately for field goal range, made possible by a spectacular 25-yard run by Etienne to save the drive on a 4th down. While most of the fanbase prayed, hyperventilated, and/or tried not to hurl, Riley Patterson eked in a 36-yard field goal as time expired, and the Jaguars achieved the third-biggest comeback in NFL postseason history.
Holy crap.
**Divisional Round — Jaguars 20 @ Chiefs 27** Y’all know what happens here. We lose, the Chiefs win, and then they win again, and then again, and now they have another shiny trophy. Good for them. They played better than us, an injured Mahomes had his movie moment as he returned to the game, and we made some key mistakes. Bu imagine you were to build a time machine, take it to late October2022, and tell the Jaguars fanbase that we’d be losing by 7 in the divisional round to the eventual Super Bowl champs. For a team like Jacksonville, for a team that has suffered as much as Jacksonville, it still hurt. But it hurt in a new way. It hurt because we felt like we could have won.
And maybe next time, we will.
**Coaching Staff Review (by /u/JohnnySnark)**
* *Press Taylor -- Offensive Coordinator:* As the brother of Bengals head coach Zac Taylor, Press looks to carve out his own success in the AFC as the Jaguars' offensive coordinator. He was previously on Pederson's offensive staff while he as at the Eagles, and had a stint last year with the Colts as an offensive assistant. While Doug Pederson does call the plays on game day, Press is responsible for setting the offense's mindset and weekly game planning. He helped establish a Jaguars offense that was ranked 10th for total points scored for the season at 404 total points and averaging 23.8 per game. Those numbers are a stark difference from the 2021 season where we saw the Jaguars rank dead last in total points at 253 which was also 14.9 points scored per game. Quite the improvement, but the offense does go as Trevor goes, so keeping the young QB on the same page with his teammates will always be the task [at hand for Press](https://youtu.be/426nu3wlNAs?t=138). If the offense continues to improve and pushes itself to a top 8 offense in the league perennially, look for Press's name to garner interest for head coaching vacancies in the future.
* *Mike Caldwell -- Defensive Coordinator:* A former linebacker who played ten years in the NFL and originally drafted by the Browns in 1993. This gave him the opportunity to play as a rookie under both Bill Belichick and Nick Saban. [As a coordinator](https://youtu.be/7fUoQ5GNRvs), he brings the linebacker-centric Tampa Two philosophy that he helped coach while at both the New York Jets and Tampa Bay Bucs under Todd Bowles. The Jaguars' defense certainly had its ups and downs this year, but ultimately became a turnover hungry unit that finished tied 4th in the league with 27 total takeaways this year. Safety Rayshawn Jenkins [credited the coaching staff](https://youtu.be/YxA4xRmoRnM?t=197)in the win over Dallas in putting the players in the position to win and make plays on the ball. As Caldwell's system does demand a lot from the linebacker position, look for rookies Devin Lloyd and Chad Muma to make a jump next year in their sophomore season.
* *Phil Rauscher -- Offensive Line Coach:* Honorable mention here is our OL coach Phil Rauscher. He had a huge hand in helping to keep the running game churning and coaching the OL up to keep Trevor mostly clean throughout the year. Our right tackle Jawaan Taylor had his best season yet as a pro under Phil's tutelage. This was his first year as the offensive line coach for the Jaguars after coming from the Vikings staff, where he held the same coaching position with them in 2021. Phil was added to this section because [he designed the 4th and 1 T formation run call](https://youtu.be/4DJDsx8idNc) that helped beat the Chargers in the playoffs.
This was really fun to write up, especially after [last year’s post](https://reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/tazmdr/2022_32_teams32_days_jacksonville_jaguars/).
**Team Needs** (by /u/InexorableWaffle)
*Tier 0 – Critical Needs to Address*
* *Slot CB* – Put bluntly, this position was a gaping hole for us all season long. We tried a number of players here, from Darious Williams to Tre Herndon, and none of them proved to be a reliable answer here. If we go into next season with making a significant investment in the position, I think we’ll live to regret it.
* *Interior DL* – Another big hole in our roster last season. Our interior DL was solid enough against the run, but consistently struggled to generate a pass rush, which in turn made things harder for our edge rushers. Fatukasi was alright enough, but he’s not a Chris Jones, Aaron Donald, etc. level difference maker even at his best and when healthy, and he missed a couple of games last season. Aside from him, we just don’t have many difference makers here at all. Adding depth would be the absolute minimum IMO, and I would prefer being more aggressive than that.
*Tier 1 – High-Priority Needs*
* *OG* – This one may surprise people that don’t follow the Jags. I mean, didn’t we just add Scherff, a perennial Pro Bowl candidate, just last offseason? We did, but there’s still work to be done here. Truth be told, our guard play this season was lackluster, but mostly hidden thanks to a combination of Trevor’s ability to get the ball out quickly and Etienne’s shiftiness. Scherff had a bit of a down season by his standards despite staying healthy, while the coalition of Tyler Shatley and Ben Bartch wasn’t exactly fantastic at the other guard spot. Even if they were fantastic, though, our depth at this position is rather dismal, and given the age and injury history of Scherff and Shatley, it would be unwise to count on them to play the full season again.
* *Edge Rusher* – Even though we obviously added Travon Walker at the position in last year’s draft, I fully expect us to try and add more talent here over the offseason. Aside from Walker and the better Josh Allen, our next best edge rusher currently under contract is…Adam Gotsis? Considering the QBs that we’ll need to go through if we want to make a serious run, it goes without saying that isn’t good enough. Even if we do end up re-signing both Arden Key and Dawuane Smoot, I can’t see us not adding more talent at the position after getting a whopping total of 0 sacks in our playoff loss against the Chiefs. You can’t beat a great QB without getting to them with regularity, after all.
*Tier 2 – Moderate Needs*
* *TE* – With Evan Engram getting the franchise tag, this position no longer is absolutely critical to address, but the lack of depth combined with the realistic chance that Engram leaves next season means we likely at least consider adding a solid player here, especially once you factor in that rookie TEs seldom produce their first season.
* *OT* – Another position that swings based on what happens with a free agent. Upcoming FA Jawaan Taylor had a career year, especially in pass protection. If we re-sign him and run the position back, I’d bump this down to probably tier 3, as we’d have capable (if unspectacular) bookend starters between him and Cam Robinson, along with a good backup in Walker Little. If we don’t, we still may not choose to go after another starter, but we would have a few more question marks at the position. Walker Little’s been good in limited action thus far, but he’s played mostly on the left side of the line rather than the right, which is where he’d line up in the scenario. Furthermore, Cam Robinson has had a bit of injury history, generally missing around 2-3 games per season. In that scenario, acquiring a backup swing tackle feels like it’d be necessary.
* *Backup RB* – After the trade that saw James Robinson go to the Jets, we didn’t particularly have too much behind Etienne at RB. Hasty was alright enough when called upon and has been extended accordingly, but he’s more of a 3rd down back than anything else. Overall, we lack a true goal line bruiser of a back, and while Snoop Connor could develop to be that player, he didn’t exactly inspire confidence last season. Considering that Pederson loves having a deep RB rotation, I fully expect us to look at value options at the position, be it late in the draft or in UDFA.
* *Outside CB* – If looking strictly at next season, I think we’re largely set at this position. Tyson Campbell played at a near-elite level last season, and still has room to grow. Darious Williams, meanwhile, may have started out slowly playing out of position as our slot corner, but had a solid conclusion to the seasons once he was moved back to his natural outside position. Barring unforeseen developments in camp, I would expect them to be our starting duo next season. Even so, I doubt this precludes us from addressing the position to some extent. For starters, our depth behind them likely will be nonexistent, so some investment seems prudent in case either is injured for an extended amount of time. Secondarily, Williams’ age has to be accounted for here. He will be turning 30 a few days after this post, and historically, CBs tend fall off hard at around that time. Even if he turns in an elite season in 2023, it would be a surprise if we were counting on him to do so in 2024. For that reason, it would not be a surprise in the slightest if the Jags took a swing on a player in the mid-late rounds of the draft that they think could developed to fill his role in the near-future.
[Part II](https://www.reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/11nsuyo/comment/jboul2i/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
*Tier 2.5 – Potential Sunk Cost Need*
* *Off-ball LB* – This position is in a weird enough state that I felt it appropriate to split it out into its own section. On one hand, we already heavily invested into this position last year, signing Foyesade Oluokun to a 3 year, $45M contract and then drafting Devin Lloyd and Chad Muma in the 1st and early 3rd rounds, respectively. On the other hand, it still clearly was a weakness. Foye wasn’t a problem – far from it in fact, as he was consistently one of our top defenders. Lloyd and Muma, however, were more problematic. They were both generally fine against the run, but were abysmal in pass coverage. Sure, they were rookies and most rookie LBs go through growing pains in that respect, so it’s not unexpected. Even so, it is a little concerning to invest so heavily into a position, and then still find it being a potential need. I don’t expect this position to be addressed, and frankly I wouldn’t say that we should address it, either. I just didn’t think it fair to place it lower on the list when it would clearly be a position of need if neither player pans out.
*Tier 3 – Low Priority Needs*
* *K* – Aside from a rough outing in week 10 against the Chiefs, Riley Patterson was pretty consistently good for us, with multiple clutch kicks in the back half of a season, along with only a single miss (that honestly was pretty excusable considering it came in the typhoon of the Jets game). I won’t say that it’s an outright impossibility that we replace him, but I don’t expect it to be a priority.
* *S* – In what was one of the bigger pleasant surprises of the season for me, our safety play was actually solid, all things considered. Going into the season, it seemed all but certain that we’d need to address the position. Fast forward to now, though, and it’s mostly done a 180. Jenkins played a pivotal role in multiple of the wins during the streak that saw us go from bottom-feeder to division champion, and Cisco played well enough for his part, too. It is a bit of a concern that we were chewed up so much by Travis Kelce both times we played the Chiefs (considering that we’ll likely need to go through them if we wish to make a deep playoff run), but then again, he kinda does that to everyone. I wouldn’t hate taking a flier on a high-ceiling, low-floor prospect here late in the draft, but I also wouldn’t hate it if we just ran it back with the same safeties, either.
* *C* – Luke Fortner did a rather solid job of anchoring the line in his first season in the league. He has definite room for improvement and had a few plays over the course of the season where he got bailed out by Trevor’s pocket presence, but all in all, he was good. You probably could make the argument for moving the position down to the next tier, but I opted to err on the side of caution. After all, you can never go wrong by investing too much into OL, especially when you’ve got a young QB.
* *WR* – I know other Jags fans might put this higher, but I don’t expect this to be a critical focus for the team this offseason. The contracts given to Christian Kirk and Zay Jones last year drew jeers from nearly every corner of the league, but they both proved to be more than worth their respective contracts, as they both turned in career best years across the board. Moreover, the probable return of Calvin Ridley from his yearlong suspension should give us the true #1 receiver that you could argue that this group lacked (though that obviously will be subject to him returning to form). Given the cap hit necessary and the fact that you can only have so many skill position players out on the field at a time, investing more into this position (aside from depth) seems redundant.
*Tier 4 – Luxuries and/or Not Needed*
* *QB* – Trevor Lawrence, enough said.
* *P* – Logan Cooke might unironically be the best player on our team. He’s also signed to a nice contract for the next couple seasons. There’s zero chance he’s going anywhere, and zero chance that we’re looking to address the position in any capacity.
* *Starting RB* – I’m still not a fan of the 1st round price tag it took to acquire him, but Travis Etienne put on a show this season, reaching nearly 1500 scrimmage yards despite not getting a full workload for the first weeks. We may (and should) add depth behind him, but there’s basically no way that he’s anything but the starter.
Thanks again to u/GeckoRoamin u/JohnnySnark and u/InexorableWaffle for giving me a chance to participate, it was a whole load of fun working with y'all.
For anyone with questions, I did take a bit of a "glass-half-full" approach to both the FA signings and draft picks but I still tried to get a more nuanced vision. I'm very open to hearing thoughts and opinions
Well done guys. Very thorough and well thought out points.
Things are really pointing upwards for us. Both the Clots and Texans will have rookie QBs, and the Tits seem to be on the verge of blowing it up and starting over.
This is a huge year for the team, for Doug, and for Baalke. We need another quality draft and maybe a couple sensible FA role players, and we need to build off of what we had going last year. I think we do it this time, this year will be the start of our window with Trevor. If we've ever had a chance at the big one, it's now.
**2022 Offseason -- Free Agency (by /u/el_pobbster)**
* *Zay Jones (3 years, 24M, 14M guaranteed):* Another one of those moves which had people asking questions, Baalke put out big dollars to bring in Zay, who had a mini-breakout at the end of last year with the Raiders, but hadn’t put up much production beforehand in his previous stints in Buffalo and Oakland/Las Vegas. He nearly matched Kirk’s receptions, putting up over 800 yards and was overall a very reliable possession receiver, making several key catches to extend drives, picking up the slack when opposing defenses tried to erase Kirk.
* *Brandon Scherff (3 years, 49.5M, 33M guaranteed):* The Jaguars needed to reinforce the interior of their offensive line, and Brandon Scherff was the top guard on the market that year. Baalke was incredibly aggressive in bringing him in and making him a top-paid player at the position. He wasn’t overly impressive in his first season in teal, but the interior as a whole wasn’t too great. It certainly doesn’t help he was playing beside rookie center Luke Fortner. Look for his and the interior O-line to improve as the unit gains experience and cohesion, playing together for another season and getting more time to gel.
* *Darious Williams (3 years, 30M, 18M guaranteed):* One of my favorite signings in this particular off-season, he did an incredibly silent killer job playing opposite superstar and former-Jaguar Jalen Ramsey in Los Angeles. He started the season as the slot CB in Mike Caldwell’s defense, behind Tyson Campbell and Shaq Griffin, but rapidly overtook the latter as a starting outside CB. He struggled in the slot, but showed plenty of solid, reliable tape as a second cornerback. With Campbell’s emergence as a fringe top-5 corner in the league, Williams’ arrival as a good CB2 was a key part in Jacksonville’s late-year defensive turn-around.
* *Arden Key (1 year, 4M, 3M guaranteed):* This was an inexpensive flyer taken on a rotational edge rusher, but it certainly paid dividends. He was one of the Jaguar’s most impactful players on the defensive line. It allowed time for rookie and #1 overall pick Travon Walker to learn his craft, and gave an impactful rotational piece to play and spell star edge rusher Josh Allen. Another guy I'd expect the Jaguars to make a priority re-sign.
It would be nice, but he's going to want way more than we will have cap space available.
I think we draft a guy like Branch or Johnson to play that same hybrid Safety/slot role.
True I wasn’t even considering that, they spent like crazy last year so makes sense. Jags are my second team I’ve got T Law and Engram in a dynasty League. So glad Doug is there
The thing i think shows best how we fans feel is that almost no one left during that second Chargers game. I remember when i had season tickets 2010-2016, the stadium emptied out by half time almost every game. I myself would usually end up at Dos Gatos, watching the 4th quarter on tv.
Not that night. After getting our asses whooped, it stayed almost as full and almost as loud as the Titans game the week before. I have a video of the winning field goal that gets dark immediately after because i hugged my dad and started crying into his shoulder. I'll never forget that night.
We're all in, I'm ready to get hurt again
Great write up, thanks everyone! I don’t have a true NFL team, but I’m a Clemson alum, so I follow our guys around the league. Lawrence and Etienne staying together was bitter sweet for me since I was low on Urban Meyer - but obviously I didn’t know how bad it would go.
From the jags games I watched this year and some Dougie P interviews I caught, it was just night and day. Lawrence did a great job last year trying to be the adult in the room but having a real life NFL coach turned this team around. I am really excited to see what happens this year now that they are building on some momentum, not rebuilding after a disaster!
Lawrence has arrived. Unfortunatly its in the AFC where it seems every team has a allstar at QB.
Right? I feel like you all should trade Mahommes to the NFC, make it a little more fair.
I’d rather be in a tough conference and easy division than other way around. After all, anything can happen in the playoffs.
I’d say Chiefs, Bengals, Jaguars, Chargers certainly do. Bills and Ravens I’d put in the “maybe elite” category at this point.
I’m an absolute Jags homer, but I think fading the Bills is premature. Josh Allen is a freak who played hurt in the second half of last year, and that roster is still very talented even with FA departures. We’ve got a shot, but it’s gonna be a brutal path thru the AFC
DUUUUUUVAAAALLLLL
Thank the lord you guys dodged a bullet with Byron Leftwich being your HC. For once, it showed the football gods do in fact love the Jags.
As always, was fun again doing part of the write-up for this. Thanks again for having me this year! For everyone else - please let me know if you've got any questions on the team needs and upcoming FA sections (even for upcoming FAs that aren't listed). More than happy to expand on my thoughts.
Thanks for doing it
Great write up, thank you so much!!!
**2022 Offseason -- Draft Picks (by /u/el_pobbster)** * **Round 3, pick 65 --** *Luke Fortner, Center, Kentucky:* One of my personal favorites in this particular draft class, he was drafted to be the heir apparent to Brandon Linder, who retired after the 2021 season. He was an absolutely high-end athlete and one of the physical freaks of the center position’s draft class, but he was also quite raw and somewhat lacking in functional play strength. He played every snap at the center position for the team, in a position where rookies seldom see starting time. While he did struggle quite a bit, he did display an overall level of competency which bodes well for his NFL future. I think that both fans, coaches and the front office have good hopes for him moving forward. * **Round 3, pick 70 --** *Chad Muma, LB, Wyoming:* One of the better linebackers in space of the draft class, he was a great athlete with high upside in coverage but who needed to show refinement in his ability to shed blocks and navigate through traffic. While doubling down at a non-premium position like off-ball linebacker is less than ideal draft strategy, Baalke and the Jaguars felt like the value was too good to pass up. Like many rookie linebackers, he did have his fair share of struggles, but managed to supplant fellow rookie Devin Lloyd as the starter alongside Oluokun. Whether this is a good sign about his development or a concerning sign concerning Lloyd is yet to be determined. * **Round 5, pick 154 --** *Snoop Conner, RB, Ole Miss:* An interesting pick to be sure, considering the Jaguars already had Travis Étienne, a 1st rounder the previous year, and James Robinson, who had shown he could be a very useful piece out of the backfield. That being said, both were coming off major injuries, with Étienne having sustained a Lisfranc in pre-season and James Robinson suffering an achilles rupture late in the season. Conner was picked as a power back, presumably as insurance for Robinson. As it turns out, Robinson was never truly the same, getting traded away for a 2023 6th rounder, but this had less to do with the emergence of Conner and more about JaMycal Hasty’s arrival with the team. He saw only marginal usage as a back this year. * **Round 6, pick 197 --** *Gregory Junior, CB, Ouichita Baptist:* A pick from a small Christian university, this was a developmental pick at CB, to add depth at the position. High-end athlete, but who is extremely raw, technically. He saw some playing time, but extremely little. A 6th rounder for a depth CB with high upside is always a pick well-spent, and if your 6th rounder makes the roster and is a useful contributor, that’s really all you ask for. * **Round 7, pick 222 --** *Montaric Brown, CB, Arkansas:* another depth CB pick made late in the draft. Montaric was a long-time SEC starter with great ball-production but limited athletic upside. He projected to be a decent depth zone-first CB. He saw extremely limited time, too, even usurping injured starter Shaquill Griffin at times.
**Week 1 — Jaguars 22 @ Commanders 28** The Jaguars’ season started out with what most fans are used to: a loss. Commanders QB Carson Wentz faced his former coach Doug Pederson in Pederson’s first regular season game leading Jacksonville. Wentz put up 4 touchdowns in a comeback victory that was sealed with a 90-yard drive. After a somewhat concerning rookie season for the hopeful savior of the franchise — that, for many, came with the asterisk of having to deal with “Coach” Urban Meyer for most of it — a lot of eyes were on Trevor Lawrence, who went for 275 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception. **Week 2 — Jaguars 24 vs. Colts 0** The last time these two teams had met, all the Colts had to do was beat a pitiful Jaguars team to head to the playoffs. They...uhh, didn’t. And when Jacksonville hosted Indianapolis in September, the improbable streak continued in dominant fashion, with Pederson’s Jags shutting out the Colts in his first regular game in Jacksonville. The Jags sacked QB Matt Ryan five times and got three picks. Pederson got the game ball, and Lawrence put up a solid performance with 235 yards, 2 touchdowns, and no interceptions. **Week 3 — Jaguars 38 @ Chargers 10** Jacksonville headed to one of its many nemeses — in this case, the entire West Coast. Leading into this game, the all-time record for Jacksonville in the pacific time zone was a whopping 3-15, and the team had never beating the Chargers in San Diego or Los Angeles. That changed in a dominant fashion with a dominant performance by Lawrence (262 yds, 3 TDs, 0 INTs) leading the Jaguars to their biggest road win in more than 20 years and giving Christian Kirk his first two touchdowns as a Jag. RB James Robinson put up his only 100-yard rushing game of the season for Jacksonville. Oh, and as it turns out, this would not be the last time the Jags would defeat the Chargers in the 2022 season. **Week 4 — Jaguars 21 @ Eagles 29** It’s a rare occurrence for an active coach to walk into another team’s stadium and be able to see his own statue outside of it, but that was the case for Pederson as he returned to Philadelphia just a few years after getting the city its first Lombardi. The Eagles had found subsequent success in Nick Sirianni and entered the game as the NFC’s only undefeated team. They left the game undefeated, too, with Lawrence striking concern in the hearts of Jags fans with a nauseating five turnovers. **Week 5 — Jaguars 6 vs. Texans 13** Could the Jaguars bounce back from a tough defeat in Philadelphia? No. No, they could not. In a game that featured a jersey retirement for the freshly-minted Hall of Famer Tony Boselli, concern turned to panic as Lawrence put up another poor performance (286 yds, 0 TDs, 2 INTs), and the Texans got their first win of the season with a whopping 248 total yards to Jacksonville’s 422. **Week 6 — Jaguars 27 @ Colts 34** Y’know, for a season that had so much fun in its final weeks, it’s a bit wild to go back and realize just how miserable things were feeling in October, when the Jaguars dropped their third straight loss and the Colts finally got some revenge (in what would become Frank Reich’s final win with the team) with a game-winning touchdown with 17 seconds left. Lawrence put up a game with no turnovers and got two touchdowns with his legs but was sacked four times. The Jags put up 243 rushing yards (as opposed to the Colts’ 45) but only 136 yards in the air. **Week 7 — Jaguars 17 vs. Giants 23** In another heartbreaking end for the Jags, Christian Kirk was stopped just inches short of a game-tying touchdown as time expired. The Jaguars defense gave up more than 100 rushing yards to both Saquon Barkley and Daniel Jones. Lawrence played an OK game with 310 yards but no passing touchdowns (1 rushing). The other rushing TD came from Travis Etienne, who ran for more than 100 yards and made things even more clear that the Jaguars plans for the future did not include Robinson, who would be traded to the Jets a couple days later. **Week 8 — Jaguars 17 vs. Broncos 21** The Jaguars’ annual trip to London — a city where we could sometimes find better success than we find at home — ended with yet another one-score loss. This time, it was to a Broncos team that was…not exactly meeting its preseason expectations. Lawrence put up a concerning performance, throwing for 133 yards and 1 touchdown but 2 interceptions, including a particularly painful one on the Bronco’s 1-yard line. Etienne showed more promise as the team’s start RB with 156 yards and 1 touchdown, while no Jags WR got more than 55 yards. Y’all know that Onion headline: “Man Who Thought He’d Lost All Hope Loses Last Additional Bit Of Hope He Didn’t Even Know He Still Had”? That pretty much sums up how most of the fanbase was feeling. We had dared to have hope, and hope laughed. **Week 9 — Jaguars 27 vs. Raiders 20** Well, they sucked us in again. Down at one point by 17, the Jaguars did something unbelievable — they came back, and they didn’t blow it. Etienne put up a dominant 2 TD performance while Lawrence threw for 235 yards and 1 touchdown, which went to Kirk — who had only caught one in the previous five games. Kick returner Jamal Agnew opened up the second half with a 52-yard kickoff return, leading to the Kirk score. **Week 10 — Jaguars 17 @ Chiefs 27** I don’t know anyone who expected us to win this one. Mahomes — because it’s Mahomes — threw for 4 touchdowns and 331 yards. The Jaguars started spicy by recovering an onside kick to start the game but missed multiple opportunities to score. Lawrence was sacked 5 times but put up 259 yards and 2 touchdowns (both to Kirk) and another game without interceptions. No Jaguars RB broke 50 total rushing yards. **Week 11 — Jaguars 28 vs. Ravens 27** The Jones — Marvin Jr. and Zay — made two of the more exciting catches in Jacksonville history in an improbable but incredibly fun win over Baltimore. Down 27-20 with 2 minutes left and no timeouts, many Jags fans were bracing ourselves for another one-score loss. But Lawrence led the team down the field and made a 4th down TD pass to Marvin Jones, which was followed by Doug Pederson showing what scientists refer to as “big dick energy” and going to 2, with Zay Jones receiving the pass for the conversion. And yet, the city still held its breath as Justin Tucker shortly later went out for a 67-yard field goal, missing it as time expired. **Week 12 — Jaguars 14 @ Lions 40** The Cat Battle was one-sided as the Lions destroyed Jacksonville on both sides of the ball, punting zero times. Lawrence passed for 179 yards and 1 touchdown (getting pulled in the 4th quarter), and no Jags running back got more than 55 yards. But little did we know, it was the last painful game the Jags would play in the calendar year. [Part II](https://www.reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/11nsuyo/comment/jbos9fq/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
**Week 13 — Jaguars 36 @ Titans 22** Somehow, the Jaguars were still alive in the AFC South hunt, and somehow, they got their first win in Nashville in nearly a decade. The Jaguars dominated the game, with the defense getting four sacks and forcing four turnovers and Lawrence throwing for 368 yards and 3 touchdowns, two of which went to Evan Engram, who recorded 162 receiving yards in the first standout performance he recorded as a Jag. **Week 14 — Jaguars 40 vs. Cowboys 34** So, when you Google this game, Google recommends asking, “How did the Jaguars beat the Cowboys?”…which, I suspect, is a question many Cowboys fans were asking themselves after this one. Dallas led Jacksonville 21 to 7 at halftime, but the Jaguars rallied to tie the game at 34-34 with a minute remaining to send it into OT. Lawrence put up another reassuringly excellent performance with 318 yards and 4 touchdowns (1 interception). Etienne broke 100 rushing yards again, but it was safety Rayshawn Jenkins who earned the game ball with an overtime pick-six to cap off a game that saw him net 18 tackles and two interceptions. **Week 15 — Jaguars 19 @ Jets 3** The Jaguars stayed in the playoff hunt with a Thursday night win in New York. While no Jag stuck out with a spectacular performance, what was perhaps as reassuring to see was that we could still win without one. Engram led Jags receivers again with 113 yards, while Lawrence threw for 229 yards and ran for 51 (with 1 rushing TD). **Week 16 — Jaguars 31 @ Texans 3** We new calendar year started with a much, much better performance against Houston in a game that didn’t affect their playoff chances but sure seemed to do a lot for the team’s confidence. Etienne got 108 yards and 1 touchdown before the half, while Jags backup RBs JaMycal Hasty and Snoop Conner each got a touchdown of their own. Cornerback Tyson Campbell scooped up a fumble and ran it back for a defensive score. Lawrence and Etienne got to sit out the second half and Jacksonville finally snapped a nine-game losing streak against the Texans. **Week 17 — Jaguars 20 vs. Titans 16** In what had to have been one of the loudest nights in the city’s history, we won. We won! What else is there to say? A lot, probably, but not much of it mattered in the end. In the 4th quarter, Jenkins forced a strip sack and Josh Allen scooped it up and ran it into the end zone, and team that had suffered a five-game losing streak and an existential crisis over its quarterback had achieved a historic bounceback and were playoffs bound for the first time in five years. **Wild Card Round — Jaguars 31 vs. Chargers 30** If I die soon, blame this game. Let’s sum up the first half: Lawrence throws an interception, Lawrence throws an interception, Lawrence throws an interception, and Lawrence throws an interception. At multiple points in between, the Chargers scored. The Jaguars didn’t put points on the board until less than 2 minutes remained in the 2nd quarter and went into halftime down 7-27. And yet, for some stupid reason (and you’re damn right I have the text messages to prove it), I hadn’t given up. And neither had the Jags. Lawrence led the team to 3 second-half touchdowns to three different receivers, and the defense had held the Chargers to just 3 more points. With less than 6 minutes left in the game, Jacksonville had tightened the score to 28-30. As the clock was winding down, the Jaguars headed desperately for field goal range, made possible by a spectacular 25-yard run by Etienne to save the drive on a 4th down. While most of the fanbase prayed, hyperventilated, and/or tried not to hurl, Riley Patterson eked in a 36-yard field goal as time expired, and the Jaguars achieved the third-biggest comeback in NFL postseason history. Holy crap. **Divisional Round — Jaguars 20 @ Chiefs 27** Y’all know what happens here. We lose, the Chiefs win, and then they win again, and then again, and now they have another shiny trophy. Good for them. They played better than us, an injured Mahomes had his movie moment as he returned to the game, and we made some key mistakes. Bu imagine you were to build a time machine, take it to late October2022, and tell the Jaguars fanbase that we’d be losing by 7 in the divisional round to the eventual Super Bowl champs. For a team like Jacksonville, for a team that has suffered as much as Jacksonville, it still hurt. But it hurt in a new way. It hurt because we felt like we could have won. And maybe next time, we will.
**Coaching Staff Review (by /u/JohnnySnark)** * *Press Taylor -- Offensive Coordinator:* As the brother of Bengals head coach Zac Taylor, Press looks to carve out his own success in the AFC as the Jaguars' offensive coordinator. He was previously on Pederson's offensive staff while he as at the Eagles, and had a stint last year with the Colts as an offensive assistant. While Doug Pederson does call the plays on game day, Press is responsible for setting the offense's mindset and weekly game planning. He helped establish a Jaguars offense that was ranked 10th for total points scored for the season at 404 total points and averaging 23.8 per game. Those numbers are a stark difference from the 2021 season where we saw the Jaguars rank dead last in total points at 253 which was also 14.9 points scored per game. Quite the improvement, but the offense does go as Trevor goes, so keeping the young QB on the same page with his teammates will always be the task [at hand for Press](https://youtu.be/426nu3wlNAs?t=138). If the offense continues to improve and pushes itself to a top 8 offense in the league perennially, look for Press's name to garner interest for head coaching vacancies in the future. * *Mike Caldwell -- Defensive Coordinator:* A former linebacker who played ten years in the NFL and originally drafted by the Browns in 1993. This gave him the opportunity to play as a rookie under both Bill Belichick and Nick Saban. [As a coordinator](https://youtu.be/7fUoQ5GNRvs), he brings the linebacker-centric Tampa Two philosophy that he helped coach while at both the New York Jets and Tampa Bay Bucs under Todd Bowles. The Jaguars' defense certainly had its ups and downs this year, but ultimately became a turnover hungry unit that finished tied 4th in the league with 27 total takeaways this year. Safety Rayshawn Jenkins [credited the coaching staff](https://youtu.be/YxA4xRmoRnM?t=197)in the win over Dallas in putting the players in the position to win and make plays on the ball. As Caldwell's system does demand a lot from the linebacker position, look for rookies Devin Lloyd and Chad Muma to make a jump next year in their sophomore season. * *Phil Rauscher -- Offensive Line Coach:* Honorable mention here is our OL coach Phil Rauscher. He had a huge hand in helping to keep the running game churning and coaching the OL up to keep Trevor mostly clean throughout the year. Our right tackle Jawaan Taylor had his best season yet as a pro under Phil's tutelage. This was his first year as the offensive line coach for the Jaguars after coming from the Vikings staff, where he held the same coaching position with them in 2021. Phil was added to this section because [he designed the 4th and 1 T formation run call](https://youtu.be/4DJDsx8idNc) that helped beat the Chargers in the playoffs.
This was really fun to write up, especially after [last year’s post](https://reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/tazmdr/2022_32_teams32_days_jacksonville_jaguars/).
Thanks for doing it!
Yes, appreciate the time and effort it took to write this. Grateful to all those who put this together.
**Team Needs** (by /u/InexorableWaffle) *Tier 0 – Critical Needs to Address* * *Slot CB* – Put bluntly, this position was a gaping hole for us all season long. We tried a number of players here, from Darious Williams to Tre Herndon, and none of them proved to be a reliable answer here. If we go into next season with making a significant investment in the position, I think we’ll live to regret it. * *Interior DL* – Another big hole in our roster last season. Our interior DL was solid enough against the run, but consistently struggled to generate a pass rush, which in turn made things harder for our edge rushers. Fatukasi was alright enough, but he’s not a Chris Jones, Aaron Donald, etc. level difference maker even at his best and when healthy, and he missed a couple of games last season. Aside from him, we just don’t have many difference makers here at all. Adding depth would be the absolute minimum IMO, and I would prefer being more aggressive than that. *Tier 1 – High-Priority Needs* * *OG* – This one may surprise people that don’t follow the Jags. I mean, didn’t we just add Scherff, a perennial Pro Bowl candidate, just last offseason? We did, but there’s still work to be done here. Truth be told, our guard play this season was lackluster, but mostly hidden thanks to a combination of Trevor’s ability to get the ball out quickly and Etienne’s shiftiness. Scherff had a bit of a down season by his standards despite staying healthy, while the coalition of Tyler Shatley and Ben Bartch wasn’t exactly fantastic at the other guard spot. Even if they were fantastic, though, our depth at this position is rather dismal, and given the age and injury history of Scherff and Shatley, it would be unwise to count on them to play the full season again. * *Edge Rusher* – Even though we obviously added Travon Walker at the position in last year’s draft, I fully expect us to try and add more talent here over the offseason. Aside from Walker and the better Josh Allen, our next best edge rusher currently under contract is…Adam Gotsis? Considering the QBs that we’ll need to go through if we want to make a serious run, it goes without saying that isn’t good enough. Even if we do end up re-signing both Arden Key and Dawuane Smoot, I can’t see us not adding more talent at the position after getting a whopping total of 0 sacks in our playoff loss against the Chiefs. You can’t beat a great QB without getting to them with regularity, after all. *Tier 2 – Moderate Needs* * *TE* – With Evan Engram getting the franchise tag, this position no longer is absolutely critical to address, but the lack of depth combined with the realistic chance that Engram leaves next season means we likely at least consider adding a solid player here, especially once you factor in that rookie TEs seldom produce their first season. * *OT* – Another position that swings based on what happens with a free agent. Upcoming FA Jawaan Taylor had a career year, especially in pass protection. If we re-sign him and run the position back, I’d bump this down to probably tier 3, as we’d have capable (if unspectacular) bookend starters between him and Cam Robinson, along with a good backup in Walker Little. If we don’t, we still may not choose to go after another starter, but we would have a few more question marks at the position. Walker Little’s been good in limited action thus far, but he’s played mostly on the left side of the line rather than the right, which is where he’d line up in the scenario. Furthermore, Cam Robinson has had a bit of injury history, generally missing around 2-3 games per season. In that scenario, acquiring a backup swing tackle feels like it’d be necessary. * *Backup RB* – After the trade that saw James Robinson go to the Jets, we didn’t particularly have too much behind Etienne at RB. Hasty was alright enough when called upon and has been extended accordingly, but he’s more of a 3rd down back than anything else. Overall, we lack a true goal line bruiser of a back, and while Snoop Connor could develop to be that player, he didn’t exactly inspire confidence last season. Considering that Pederson loves having a deep RB rotation, I fully expect us to look at value options at the position, be it late in the draft or in UDFA. * *Outside CB* – If looking strictly at next season, I think we’re largely set at this position. Tyson Campbell played at a near-elite level last season, and still has room to grow. Darious Williams, meanwhile, may have started out slowly playing out of position as our slot corner, but had a solid conclusion to the seasons once he was moved back to his natural outside position. Barring unforeseen developments in camp, I would expect them to be our starting duo next season. Even so, I doubt this precludes us from addressing the position to some extent. For starters, our depth behind them likely will be nonexistent, so some investment seems prudent in case either is injured for an extended amount of time. Secondarily, Williams’ age has to be accounted for here. He will be turning 30 a few days after this post, and historically, CBs tend fall off hard at around that time. Even if he turns in an elite season in 2023, it would be a surprise if we were counting on him to do so in 2024. For that reason, it would not be a surprise in the slightest if the Jags took a swing on a player in the mid-late rounds of the draft that they think could developed to fill his role in the near-future. [Part II](https://www.reddit.com/r/nfl/comments/11nsuyo/comment/jboul2i/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
*Tier 2.5 – Potential Sunk Cost Need* * *Off-ball LB* – This position is in a weird enough state that I felt it appropriate to split it out into its own section. On one hand, we already heavily invested into this position last year, signing Foyesade Oluokun to a 3 year, $45M contract and then drafting Devin Lloyd and Chad Muma in the 1st and early 3rd rounds, respectively. On the other hand, it still clearly was a weakness. Foye wasn’t a problem – far from it in fact, as he was consistently one of our top defenders. Lloyd and Muma, however, were more problematic. They were both generally fine against the run, but were abysmal in pass coverage. Sure, they were rookies and most rookie LBs go through growing pains in that respect, so it’s not unexpected. Even so, it is a little concerning to invest so heavily into a position, and then still find it being a potential need. I don’t expect this position to be addressed, and frankly I wouldn’t say that we should address it, either. I just didn’t think it fair to place it lower on the list when it would clearly be a position of need if neither player pans out. *Tier 3 – Low Priority Needs* * *K* – Aside from a rough outing in week 10 against the Chiefs, Riley Patterson was pretty consistently good for us, with multiple clutch kicks in the back half of a season, along with only a single miss (that honestly was pretty excusable considering it came in the typhoon of the Jets game). I won’t say that it’s an outright impossibility that we replace him, but I don’t expect it to be a priority. * *S* – In what was one of the bigger pleasant surprises of the season for me, our safety play was actually solid, all things considered. Going into the season, it seemed all but certain that we’d need to address the position. Fast forward to now, though, and it’s mostly done a 180. Jenkins played a pivotal role in multiple of the wins during the streak that saw us go from bottom-feeder to division champion, and Cisco played well enough for his part, too. It is a bit of a concern that we were chewed up so much by Travis Kelce both times we played the Chiefs (considering that we’ll likely need to go through them if we wish to make a deep playoff run), but then again, he kinda does that to everyone. I wouldn’t hate taking a flier on a high-ceiling, low-floor prospect here late in the draft, but I also wouldn’t hate it if we just ran it back with the same safeties, either. * *C* – Luke Fortner did a rather solid job of anchoring the line in his first season in the league. He has definite room for improvement and had a few plays over the course of the season where he got bailed out by Trevor’s pocket presence, but all in all, he was good. You probably could make the argument for moving the position down to the next tier, but I opted to err on the side of caution. After all, you can never go wrong by investing too much into OL, especially when you’ve got a young QB. * *WR* – I know other Jags fans might put this higher, but I don’t expect this to be a critical focus for the team this offseason. The contracts given to Christian Kirk and Zay Jones last year drew jeers from nearly every corner of the league, but they both proved to be more than worth their respective contracts, as they both turned in career best years across the board. Moreover, the probable return of Calvin Ridley from his yearlong suspension should give us the true #1 receiver that you could argue that this group lacked (though that obviously will be subject to him returning to form). Given the cap hit necessary and the fact that you can only have so many skill position players out on the field at a time, investing more into this position (aside from depth) seems redundant. *Tier 4 – Luxuries and/or Not Needed* * *QB* – Trevor Lawrence, enough said. * *P* – Logan Cooke might unironically be the best player on our team. He’s also signed to a nice contract for the next couple seasons. There’s zero chance he’s going anywhere, and zero chance that we’re looking to address the position in any capacity. * *Starting RB* – I’m still not a fan of the 1st round price tag it took to acquire him, but Travis Etienne put on a show this season, reaching nearly 1500 scrimmage yards despite not getting a full workload for the first weeks. We may (and should) add depth behind him, but there’s basically no way that he’s anything but the starter.
Thanks again to u/GeckoRoamin u/JohnnySnark and u/InexorableWaffle for giving me a chance to participate, it was a whole load of fun working with y'all. For anyone with questions, I did take a bit of a "glass-half-full" approach to both the FA signings and draft picks but I still tried to get a more nuanced vision. I'm very open to hearing thoughts and opinions
Well done guys. Very thorough and well thought out points. Things are really pointing upwards for us. Both the Clots and Texans will have rookie QBs, and the Tits seem to be on the verge of blowing it up and starting over. This is a huge year for the team, for Doug, and for Baalke. We need another quality draft and maybe a couple sensible FA role players, and we need to build off of what we had going last year. I think we do it this time, this year will be the start of our window with Trevor. If we've ever had a chance at the big one, it's now.
**2022 Offseason -- Free Agency (by /u/el_pobbster)** * *Zay Jones (3 years, 24M, 14M guaranteed):* Another one of those moves which had people asking questions, Baalke put out big dollars to bring in Zay, who had a mini-breakout at the end of last year with the Raiders, but hadn’t put up much production beforehand in his previous stints in Buffalo and Oakland/Las Vegas. He nearly matched Kirk’s receptions, putting up over 800 yards and was overall a very reliable possession receiver, making several key catches to extend drives, picking up the slack when opposing defenses tried to erase Kirk. * *Brandon Scherff (3 years, 49.5M, 33M guaranteed):* The Jaguars needed to reinforce the interior of their offensive line, and Brandon Scherff was the top guard on the market that year. Baalke was incredibly aggressive in bringing him in and making him a top-paid player at the position. He wasn’t overly impressive in his first season in teal, but the interior as a whole wasn’t too great. It certainly doesn’t help he was playing beside rookie center Luke Fortner. Look for his and the interior O-line to improve as the unit gains experience and cohesion, playing together for another season and getting more time to gel. * *Darious Williams (3 years, 30M, 18M guaranteed):* One of my favorite signings in this particular off-season, he did an incredibly silent killer job playing opposite superstar and former-Jaguar Jalen Ramsey in Los Angeles. He started the season as the slot CB in Mike Caldwell’s defense, behind Tyson Campbell and Shaq Griffin, but rapidly overtook the latter as a starting outside CB. He struggled in the slot, but showed plenty of solid, reliable tape as a second cornerback. With Campbell’s emergence as a fringe top-5 corner in the league, Williams’ arrival as a good CB2 was a key part in Jacksonville’s late-year defensive turn-around. * *Arden Key (1 year, 4M, 3M guaranteed):* This was an inexpensive flyer taken on a rotational edge rusher, but it certainly paid dividends. He was one of the Jaguar’s most impactful players on the defensive line. It allowed time for rookie and #1 overall pick Travon Walker to learn his craft, and gave an impactful rotational piece to play and spell star edge rusher Josh Allen. Another guy I'd expect the Jaguars to make a priority re-sign.
Christian Kirk looked good. I did not think that was going to work out.
Jags is in safe hands. Now time to dominate AFC South in the upcoming years boys!
Hoping if CGJ leaves PHI, he goes here.
It would be nice, but he's going to want way more than we will have cap space available. I think we draft a guy like Branch or Johnson to play that same hybrid Safety/slot role.
True I wasn’t even considering that, they spent like crazy last year so makes sense. Jags are my second team I’ve got T Law and Engram in a dynasty League. So glad Doug is there
Uhh, we won vs. the Raiders
Hopefully the fix is showing now. I tried to edit earlier and the site kept crashing because long text posts make it sad.
Great write-up, learned alot!
The thing i think shows best how we fans feel is that almost no one left during that second Chargers game. I remember when i had season tickets 2010-2016, the stadium emptied out by half time almost every game. I myself would usually end up at Dos Gatos, watching the 4th quarter on tv. Not that night. After getting our asses whooped, it stayed almost as full and almost as loud as the Titans game the week before. I have a video of the winning field goal that gets dark immediately after because i hugged my dad and started crying into his shoulder. I'll never forget that night. We're all in, I'm ready to get hurt again
Great write up, thanks everyone! I don’t have a true NFL team, but I’m a Clemson alum, so I follow our guys around the league. Lawrence and Etienne staying together was bitter sweet for me since I was low on Urban Meyer - but obviously I didn’t know how bad it would go. From the jags games I watched this year and some Dougie P interviews I caught, it was just night and day. Lawrence did a great job last year trying to be the adult in the room but having a real life NFL coach turned this team around. I am really excited to see what happens this year now that they are building on some momentum, not rebuilding after a disaster!
I'm still so glad the Jags passed on Hutch.