3 Things We Learned About the Jaguars Before Week 1

We have learned plenty from the Jacksonville Jaguars' training camp. What lessons stood out the most?

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) throws the ball to running back Travis Etienne Jr. (1) during the ninth day of an NFL football training camp practice Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024 at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. Today marked the first day of public practice inside the stadium. / Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Jacksonville Jaguars have wrapped up yet another training camp at the Miller Electric Center and another preseason at EverBank Stadium. Now, they are just seven days from the 2024 season finally kicking off in Miami.

With nearly 20 practices and three preseason games in the books, what did we learn about the Jaguars during training camp? We break it down below.

There will be the deepest rotation of Jaguars defensive linemen in years

The Jaguars have rarely rotated their defensive linemen in waves in recent years, with the starters expected to play the vast majority of the snaps under former defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell. During training camp and the preseason, however, we saw the Jaguars frequently rotate four defensive linemen at a time, doing so on the first drive of each preseason game. After seeing this defense every day over the last month, it is clear that a deep rotation will be one of their calling cards.

"It's kind of what—we want to keep them fresh, right? And keep them on a rotation where the guys are fresh into the fourth quarter. When you do that, it's instead of playing their 40th play, maybe they're at their 20th play. So, now they're ready to go in the fourth,"Jaguars deffensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen said this week.

"That's when the game's on the line, you’ve got to win it. So, yeah, we want to rotate. It's going to be the same as. But there's some of that, when we rotate, who's got the hot hand and all that stuff kind of fits in the personnel groupings and packages that we have. That also fits in there too. But we’ve got a good group and they’ll order to—some guys can, and we talked a little bit earlier, flex positions, things like that, and keep them fresh into the fourth quarter.”

One former top draft pick may still have a limited role

While there are a number of second-year draft picks who are set to have expanded roles in 2024 (Tank Bigsby, Parker Washington, Antonio Johnson, Ventrell Miller, Yasir Abdullah, and Tyler Lacy to name a few), there is one member of the 2023 draft class who still doesn't look like he is set to contribute in a major way. That would be none other than second-round pick Brenton Strange, whose lack of usage as a rookie was staggering for a top-70 pick.

As a rookie, Strange caught just five passes for 35 yards and one touchdown. Among all 16 rookie tight ends with at least one target in 2023, Strange ranked No. 11 in routes ran (85), No. 11 in targets, No. 13 in catches, No. 14 in yards, and No. 15 in yards per route ran.

"Brenton [Strange] the same way, I think we can do more to get him involved offensively. That’s something that we’ll look at this spring," Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said in January at his first post-2023 season press conference.

During training camp and the preseason, however, we just didn't see that much of a changed role. Strange will clearly play a big role in the Jaguars' running game, but he looks like the No. 3 tight end behind Evan Engram and Luke Farrell. Farrell's usage in camp and the preseason suggested he is the Jaguars' top blocking tight end, which could mean another quiet year for Strange.

Trevor Lawrence could be in for his best season yet

As you know from our reporting over training camp, Trevor Lawrence ended this year's camp and preseason on one of his hottest streaks yet. He was mostly flawless in the preseason, with the only negative play that stands out being a fourth-down sack. And after a slow start in training camp, Lawrence looked like one of the best players on the field over the final weeks of practices, improving his decision-making and accuracy.

Combine Lawrence's upward trajectory with a skill group that fits his big-armed style, and it isn't hard to see why the Jaguars think 2024 could be a special season for Lawrence. After a let-down 2023 that was plagued by injuries and turnovers, Lawrence seems to understand his importance to the franchise and has curtailed some of his dangerous play-making decisions.

“I think so. I think he was on track for that last year," Jaguars offensive coordinator Press Taylor said this week when asked if he thinks Lawrence will make the jump in 2024. "I think the first half of the season, he was playing as good as anybody. I don't know if he was getting credit for that outside the building. I have no clue. But we were very happy with how he was playing, how he was running the offense, managing games, winning games for us.

"So, yeah, I think Trevor just continues to grow every single year within the offense, just within playing quarterback, leading this team, being the face of the franchise. It's been super impressive since the day I got here, just working with him and to see him grow and step into what I think he would feel is naturally ahead for him, has been really cool to see. I think he's just going to continue to get better every single day.”

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