5 Jaguars to Watch in Week 2 vs. the Titans
Each week this season, I’ll be highlighting a few specific Jacksonville players that I’ll be keeping my eye on based on how they’ve played so far and how I expect them to play in the future. Here is who I’ll be watching for in Week 2 against the Tennessee Titans.
QB Gardner Minshew II
Minshew had a fabulous Week 1 performance, as he completed 19-of-20 passes for 173 yards and three touchdowns in the season-opener against Indianapolis. According to Next Gen Stats, he had an expected completion percentage of 78.6% (led the league) in large part because of his remarkably low 4.5 average depth of target (second-lowest in the league)- but his completion percentage over expected of +16.4% still ranked first among all quarterbacks.
Minshew was on this list last week as well. I wrote, “If Minshew stays poised in the pocket and throws downfield with confidence, that means he took a massive step this offseason.”
He didn’t exactly attack downfield nor excel in pocket awareness, as shown by his low average depth of target and four sacks taken. Instead, Minshew was able to succeed by making smart, accurate short-to-intermediate throws one after another- he ended the day with a 100% on-target percentage, best in the league per Sports Info Solutions. I’m excited to see if that offensive playing style will work as well against Tennessee this week, which typically runs a much more man-heavy scheme than Indianapolis’ primarily zone defense.
CB C.J. Henderson
C.J. Henderson had a true breakout performance in his first career NFL game. He was targeted 10 times (fifth-most in the league), but he recorded three pass breakups and one interception (both tied for first in the league). His 84.2 PFF grade and 28.3 passer rating allowed ranks second- and seventh-best, respectively, through Week 1 among all cornerbacks.
Henderson covered T.Y. Hilton on 14 snaps and allowed just two receptions on five targets for 31 yards (per ESPN’s Mike Clay). This week, he’ll be tasked with covering Tennessee’s A.J. Brown and Corey Davis. Henderson versus Brown is an elite athleticism showdown that could be an entertaining battle for years to come in the AFC South, and it will undoubtedly be fun to see how the two match up for the first time this weekend.
S Andrew Wingard and Josh Jones
Henderson’s 84.2 PFF grade was bested only by Andrew Wingard, who registered a league-high 95.1 PFF grade after a clutch fourth-quarter interception. Wingard’s grade comes with pause, as he played just 13 defensive snaps, but he will have ample opportunity in future weeks after Jarrod Wilson landed on injured reserve. Meanwhile, Josh Jones started his first game for the Jaguars and turned in the 15th-best PFF grade by a safety in Week 1 (70.3) after recording a team-high 12 tackles.
Wingard and Jones have started a combined 14 career games in the NFL. The pair has a daunting task ahead of them in Derrick Henry and the rest of the Titans offense. In eight career games against Jacksonville, Henry has six wins and has averaged 16.6 carries, 89.3 rushing yards and 1.1 rushing touchdowns per game, including two multiple-touchdown, 150-plus rushing yard games since 2018.
Tennessee uses Henry as leverage to fuel a play action-heavy passing offense that ranked sixth in both DVOA and EPA per play in 2019. Wingard and Jones’ ability (or lack thereof) to quickly and effectively react against the Titan’s offense will be crucial for Jacksonville’s Week 2 success.
LB Myles Jack
Fifth-year linebacker Myles Jack was talked up all offseason following the signing of Joe Schobert. The thought was that with Schobert taking over the middle linebacker position, Jack would have a bounce-back season at his “more natural” weak side linebacker position. Though a small sample size, that hypothesis appears to be proven through one week of action.
Jack was all over the field on Sunday. He collected 11 tackles after failing to reach double-digit tackles in a single game in 2019, while adding a sack and three quarterback hits on just five pass-rushing snaps. He recorded a nice 69.0 PFF grade after surpassing that number just twice in 11 games last season.
Jack’s play will have a huge impact on the rest of the defense throughout the season, including this week against Henry and the Titans. In his last three games against Tennessee, Jack has earned abysmal PFF run-defense grades of 32.6, 25.6, and 41.9, which needs to improve for Jacksonville to have a chance of slowing down the Titans offense.
