Can Ascending Jaguars WR Truly Replace Injured Star?

What can Parker Washington offer the Jacksonville Jaguars in the wake of Christian Kirk's injury?

Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Parker Washington (11) catches a pass before an NFL football matchup Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024 at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union] / Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Speaking from the locker room on Wednesday, Jacksonville Jaguars tight end Evan Engram summed up the season-ending injury to wide receiver Christian Kirk better than anyone has to date.

"Everybody's gotta step up. It was really an unfillable last year and it is going to be an unfillable hole this year."

But with nine games left to play, the Jaguars know they need to find some way to replace Kirk's production in the middle of their offense. And right now, the best path moving forward is to lean on second-year receiver Parker Washington.

Washington has come up big for the Jaguars in the past; after Kirk's injury last season, the former sixth-round pick caught 16 passes for 132 yards and two touchdowns.

And in the last two weeks, Washington has set a franchise record with a 96-yard punt return touchdown and has caught three passes for 46 yards.

Now, it will be on Washington to fill a void that few others would even be able to conceivably take over for.

“He's been great. I think just the improvements he's made on whether it's just knowing the system, the ins and outs," Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence said on Wednesday. "Last year when he played a lot, he knew the system. But I think understanding why you do things a certain way, running routes a certain way versus different coverages or zones or sitting in certain spots. I think just all of that, he's developed a lot more over the past year."

Washington was one of the Jaguars' stars of the offseason, but it was also a simple truth that, as long as Kirk was on the field, Washington would have a limited role on offense.

Now, that role has exploded and Washington is set to be one of the offense's most important players over the final two months of the season.

"Because he had a full offseason, he had all this time in the offseason to train and he looks great, he's explosive. You see him when he came in on Sunday playing on the outside, playing on the inside. He can move around and just do a lot of things that help us," Lawrence said.

"So, in a time like this, when the season goes on and we have guys banged up and you're not always 100 percent sure on what Sunday is going to look like because you're just trying to get there and see who's healthy. So, that's helpful when you have a guy that can do as many things as he can, and it's been good for us.”

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