Column: The Jaguars Don’t Have to Tank for Trevor Lawrence

The Jaguars now have an inside track to the No. 1 overall pick. If they lose the next two game, they will have the chance to add the best quarterback prospect since Andrew Luck to their roster. But that doesn't mean they will tank ... they simply don't have to.

If things go as logic says they likely will over the next two weeks, Dec. 20, 2020, will be remembered as a monumental day in the history of the Jacksonville Jaguars. 

If the Jaguars lose the next two games -- just as they have lost the last 13 -- then Week 15 of the 2020 season will forever be known the day the Jaguars were given the inside track to the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, and subsequently the inside track to Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence. 

That is, of course, if the Jaguars stay ahead of the now 1-13 New York Jets in the draft order. As a result, many in the sports world (especially in the northeast region of Florida) have made the public call for the Jaguars to tank the next two games. 

But the Jaguars shouldn't do that, nor would they ever do that. They are an organization made up of proud and hard-working coaches and players who want nothing more than to win these next two games. It is important for the organization's long term health to fight against a culture of losing.

For all the countless reasons the word "tank" shouldn't even be uttered inside the building in TIAA Bank Field, the largest reason is the most obvious one. The reason that somehow keeps getting lost in the discussion of the next two weeks. 

The Jaguars shouldn't tank, and won't tank, for Trevor Lawrence because they don't have to. The course of nature can handle the next two weeks without any assistance from the Jaguars. 

Jacksonville's roster and coaching staff will do everything they can to win the next two games. Just like the Jets embraced beating the Los Angeles Rams 23-20 on Sunday for their first victory of the season, the Jaguars' sidelines would be doing flips if they beat the Chicago Bears in Week 16 or the Indianapolis Colts in Week 17.

But it likely won't matter. The Jaguars aren't 1-13 due to a lack of effort or a purpose focus on losing. They are 1-13 because the 2020 version of the franchise is a bad football team with countless factors working against them. 

The Jaguars didn't need to tank to go 1-13. They have lost 13 games in a row because, well, they are what their record is. As a result, they don't need to tank to go 1-15. They can do it all on their own.

"I don’t know. I mean it’s only like 30 minutes after the game, so it’s still pretty fresh, but we’re definitely going to try to put it behind us. I think there’s an opportunity to learn from it, as there is with every game. But man, we have to move forward, find a sense of optimism and belief that we can go win these next two," Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew II said following Sunday's 40-14 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

Considering both the Bears and Colts are still in the thick of their respective playoff races, there is little chance they won't be giving the Jaguars all they possibly have in each of the next two games. 

The Jaguars won't have to worry about any starters resting. Instead, they will have to worry about how they can stop two surging offenses with a secondary filled with rookies and backups. They will have to worry about how an offense that has only scored touchdowns during garbage time over the last two weeks. They will have to worry about fielding a roster with experienced players after injuries have ravaged the team. 

But the Jaguars won't have to worry about "tanking". If they win a game, it will be celebrated inside the building, and for good reason. But odds are against the Jaguars for a reason. They have opened as six-point underdogs to the Bears despite being at home in Week 16. And according to ESPN's Football Power Index has the Jaguars with a 71% chance to earn the No. 1 overall pick.

Chance to earn the No. 1 pick after 4 p.m. games, per FPI:

Jaguars 71%
Jets 29%
Bengals <1%

— Seth Walder (@SethWalder) December 21, 2020

Every time the Jaguars players or coaches have been approached about the perception of tanking over the last six months, they have shot it down with ferocity. And they should. Tanking goes against everything a winning culture is about. 

But it just might not matter how much they fight against the idea because the results are what they are. They don't have to tank to be 1-15 and get the No. 1 pick. They just have to be a bad team. So far, everything we have seen in 2020 suggests this is the case.

"I mean I deleted my Instagram and Twitter [but] I still have my Facebook and I still see it from fans. What are those guys called? Big Cat Country? Them and a lot of fans, they’re definitely [saying that]. You hear it, you can’t run from it," Jaguars linebacker Myles Jack said on Thursday about the draft talk from fans. 

"Even when you go out to the gas station and you run into somebody there talking about Trevor Lawrence or Justin Fields or the tight end from Florida, all those guys. You can’t run from it. It is what it is and if you turn on ESPN, you’re going to see it too. 

"Obviously for me, I’m like, ‘Heck no, I want to win these three, four games’ and blow all that but I get it from a fan perspective. But we’re still out there fighting for our jobs, fighting for our livelihoods. At the end of the day, the NFL doesn’t pay losers, they pay winners. You win, you get rewarded. You lose, it gets kind of ugly. So, from our perspective, we’re like, ‘No, we’re not going out there tanking.’ If anybody’s thinking that, we’re not doing that. I promise you. If it was up to me, we’d be 16-0 right now, but that’s just how it goes. We’re not trying to tank, so [I’ll] throw that out there.”

As Jack said, the Jaguars won't try to tank. They shouldn't, either. Not everyone will agree with that, but they should try to win these next two games. 

But they have tried to win the last 13, and they have failed at every stop. They aren't guaranteed to fail over the next two weeks, but they don't have to tank to do so. They just have to be the 2020 Jaguars.