Jaguars' Top Priority For Coaching Search Should Be Clear: Fix Trevor Lawrence

When the Jaguars move to a new coaching staff in 2022, they should make it clear that their emphasis is to help their No. 1 overall pick and starting quarterback.

The Jacksonville Jaguars are set to enter the next three weeks with the same question that surrounded the coaching search a year ago -- how can they help Trevor Lawrence? 

A year ago, the Jaguars and owner Shad Khan's answer to supporting Lawrence was hiring Urban Meyer, one of the greatest college coaches of all time. 

This year, the Jaguars' head coaching hire needs to do everything Meyer was supposed to do, without committing any of the cardinal sins he committed daily as the Jaguars' head coach. 

Lawrence has not yet been able to produce like an NFL quarterback. The team's lack of talent has led to moments of hero ball and Meyer's failures of leadership have led to Lawrence having to become the adult in the room when it comes to key things such as James Robinson's playing time. 

Put all of this together with a young a quarterback who is still going through rookie struggles in his transition to the NFL and the Jaguars have the worst scoring offense in franchise history. Lawrence has just nine touchdowns in 14 games, on pace for the fewest from a full-season starter in franchise history and giving him one of the lowest touchdown percentages of any rookie quarterback in the modern era. 

The production the Jaguars have gotten out of Lawrence and the passing game in 2021 has been far below the standard of excellence that the Jaguars were hoping Meyer would help foster. Instead, Lawrence has gone from generational prospect to struggling rookie quarterback, taking his licks just like other quarterbacks in his class (Zach Wilson, Justin Fields) are. 

Lawrence ranks No. 39 of 43 in EPA/CPOE composite, No. 38 in EPA/Play, and No. 39 in CPOE

Lawrence is not yet broken, but he has also yet to be built from the ground up. As a result, the entire priority for the Jaguars' coaching search should be to stop the bleeding. Fix what Meyer damaged and kept from growing.

The Jaguars had the right idea in 2021 when they made Lawrence's development a central point in the coaching search, but where they failed was entrusting it to Meyer. 

The idea was that Meyer's "program" would help Lawrence who was not yet selected with the No. 1 pick but was widely known to be the Jaguars' choice with the top pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, quickly acclimate to the NFL.

Fast forward to this December and the Meyer hire did anything but. 

"I wouldn’t [have] believed you if you told me this is how this year was going to go," Lawrence said last Thursday after Meyer was followed 13 games into his tenure as Jaguars head coach. 

"But like I said, I’ve learned a lot and I still feel that way. Me and Marissa have come to love Jacksonville and that’s our plan. Let’s go turn this thing around, go become a winner, let’s go win some games, get this thing turned around. I have full faith in that still. Obviously, there’s a lot of steps to be made in the future to go in that direction, but I still believe that, and I plan on being here for a long time, hopefully my whole career."

Instead of helping Lawrence quickly grow into the role of starting NFL quarterback, Meyer created a dysfunctional environment off the field and a dysfunctional offense on the field, with off-field issues, poor scheming, and talent issues all hurting the Jaguars' offense in Lawrence's rookie season. Lawrence having his own bouts of inaccuracy and overaggressive decision-making didn't help matters, either.

Add all of this together, and the Jaguars couldn't have done less to set Lawrence up for success. From the team's high drop rate to their lack of playmakers at every position outside (only James Robinson is an average or better player, and he has been hurt half the season) to a trend of injuries to key skill players, the Jaguars offense has been a disaster and the bullseye has landed on Lawrence as a result, fair or not.

“Yeah, I’ve kind of heard that statement said and I really don’t like it. People are saying that he has regressed. What I look at is he’s a rookie quarterback and he’s learning to play the game in the NFL," Jaguars interim head coach Darrell Bevell said last week. "Whether it takes you—I would say it takes you a full season, at least, to be able to get to a point where the next time you come around it’s like okay, now I can take a breath, now I can think about this stuff and really learn from all the things that have happened through a season. 

"So, Trevor has had some really good moments, he’s had some learning moments. I mean, last week, there was a conversation, we left him in the game. It’s like, ‘Hey, he’s got to work through this, he’s got to work through this.’ All these experiences are all very valuable to him and none of it is hurting him, in my opinion. I just think he has things that he has to go through. But to say that he’s regressed, I don’t believe that.”

The Jaguars can't let this happen in 2022. They can't endanger Lawrence's progression and development by entrusting it to the wrong coach for the second time. The first time they did it resulted in getting Blaine Gabbert-level production out of a quarterback whose talent is far above that, as he has shown in 2021. 

Whether this means making Lawrence a piece of the search process by giving him say in the choice of head coach or by making a concentrated effort to actually find an experienced and proven developer of quarterbacks, the Jaguars can't repeat their mistake at head coach. 

The Jaguars' first question in each interview should be about Lawrence. The entire process should be about finding the right coach for a Lawrence-led team, because if Lawrence fails in Jacksonville, it remains to be seen who exactly could succeed. 

The Jaguars failed Lawrence in 2021 and that started with their coaching search. In 2022, they must learn from their mistakes and make fixing Lawrence and developing the franchise quarterback their top priority.