NFL
By: Bill Carroll
As the 2022 season begins, the Jacksonville Jaguars are standing at an exciting intersection of inexperience and opportunity. They have $23,346,997 in ‘dead’ cap this season, the majority of which is devoted to Joe Schobert, C.J. Henderson, and Myles Jack.
Twenty-seven-year-old Shaquill Griffin counts $19,500,000 against the cap this season, which drops to four million in ‘dead cap’ in 2023. Safety Rayshawn Jenkins, age Twenty-eight, is $9,911,765 against the cap this year, but by 2024, he is only two million in ‘dead cap’ and Twenty-nine-year-old Roy Robertson-Harris has a $9,062,745 cap number this season, however before June 1 of 2023, his ‘dead’ cap number drops to $2,333,334.
This is largely a very affordable team and one of the league’s youngest. When they prepared for last season the Jacksonville Jaguars roster had an average age of 25 years and five months. Unsurprisingly they were among the top five youngest rosters in the NFL.
Jaguars On Offense:
At QB they have a former #1 overall pick, Trevor Lawrence, his Clemson teammate in Travis Etienne Jr. at RB, who’s backed up by James Robinson, a former All-Rookie performer. Robinson was the fourth undrafted player in NFL history to rush for 1,000 yards in his rookie season.
They are talented, but something of a mystery at receiver. Christian Kirk is getting WR #1 money, but is he one? The Joneses: Marvin and Zay are likely occupying the two outside receiver positions the ‘X’ or the Split End is apparently going to be Marvin Jones with Zay at the ‘Z’ or Flanker. Each has questions surrounding consistency, health, or both.
Laviska Shenault Jr. is young and talented, with a set of skills reminiscent of Tyshun Raequan “Deebo” Samuel, only bigger. His role and opportunities are now in question and Jamal Agnew is Kirk’s back-up in the slot. He’s the fastest member of the squad, with 4.34 40, and is a former first-team All-Pro on the team, but he made it as a returner.
Brandon Scherff is by far the most celebrated member of the team; he’s made the Pro Bowl five times and is the other player who has been named first-team All-Pro. The rest of that line is either unproven youngsters or retreads who never truly established themselves.
Jaguars On Defense:
The defense is likely to improve. In 2021, the Jacksonville Jaguars ranked 20th in the NFL in total defense (353.1 yards per game allowed), 17th against the pass (227.9 yards allowed per game), 24th against the run (125.1 yards allowed per game), and 28th in points allowed per game (26.9). I believe this defense could become an overall top 10 defense.
Josh Allen, the pass-rusher out of Kentucky, is just entering his prime and had 46 solo tackles, 7.5 sacks, a forced fumble, and an interception last season. He’s in his fourth season and clearly, the game is slowing down for him. I anticipate a double-digit sack year. The rest of this extremely young and talented LB corps includes rookie first-rounders Travon Walker and Devin Lloyd. Shaquill Griffin was a key off-season acquisition and will bring leadership to a rather inexperienced secondary.
New defensive coordinator Isaiah “Mike” Caldwell, Jr, was a highly regarded linebacker’s coach with: the Philadelphia Eagles, Arizona Cardinals, New York Jets, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He will need to reduce his players’ mistakes while retaining aggression and getting them to play as fast as they timed, it’s an athletic group, but cohesion and confidence haven’t always been evident.
Jaguars Season Outlook:
New offensive coordinator, Press Taylor, is the younger brother of Zac Taylor, the Bengals’ head coach, he is just 34 years old. He will work together with new head coach Doug Pederson, to develop Trevor Lawrence while diversifying an offense that was 27th in total offense last year, but dead last at 14.9 points per game in 2021-22. If Caldwell can direct the defense to become one that is above league average, which seems very possible, then both of those rankings should improve this season.
The Jaguars face six or seven teams that I project to be playoff teams. Memorably they upset the Colts in 2021 and if they improve they could win as many as eight games this season. Pederson has shown he can develop young QBs, win with them, and has hoisted the Lombardi Trophy. If he does that again, in Jacksonville, he’ll become a statue-worthy hero in #Duval.
