Jaguars Mailbag: How Should Jacksonville Prepare for Anthony Richardson?

In this week's mailbag, we take questions on Anthony Richardson, the pass-rush and more.

Throughout the offseason, we will be taking questions on the biggest questions facing the Jacksonville Jaguars until Week 1.

You can submit your questions every week by tweeting them to the Jaguar Report Twitter handle or by submitting them here.

In this week's mailbag we take questions on the Colts, Anthony Richardson and more. 

Q: What does a loss against the Colts look like? Hard to imagine they lose but they aren’t favored by as many points as I thought they’d be.

A: I think it has to start with the offense and self-inflicted wounds. The offense should be one of the best in the NFL, but it is still a young unit that showed the ability in the preseason to shoot themselves in the foot with untimely turnovers. If the Jaguars fail to capitalize on red-zone opportunities and struggle with turnovers, it could be a long Sunday. 

Defensively, I think a loss would only loom if the Jaguars struggled with explosive plays. Anthony Richardson may not have the accuracy to dice the Jaguars up methodically, but he has the arm strength to hit field-flipping passes and has the mobility to get off the field on third-down and pick up yards with his legs. 

Q: How will Lawrence's contract extension impact the decision on Josh Allen and Calvin Ridley? Who do you think they will keep?

A: Personally, I don't think it impacts the decision much at all. Lawrence should be expected to get a mega-deal sooner than later, but the trend with quarterback contracts as of late is for the cap hits to start to jump after the first or second year of the deal. If the Jaguars structure Lawrence like Justin Herbert's deal was structured, then Lawrence's cap hit could be limited up until as late as 2026. The Jaguars would be able to keep all three, if they wanted to. 

Q: How will the Jags utilize their interior with no Davon Hamilton?

A: Foley Fatukasi and Roy Robertson-Harris are going to get the start, while Adam Gotsis and Jeremiah Ledbetter should see plenty of snaps in their own right. You could see Ledbetter at nose and Fatukasi at end or vice versa, and Gotsis makes sense as a rotational guy at end and as an interior rusher. Rookie Tyler Lacy could find some snaps at the tail end of the rotation, too.

Q: How would you play Richardson this week if you were Mike Caldwell based on the personnel on both sides?

A: I would send pressure from as many different looks and alignments as possible. The Colts don't have a plethora of weapons who are going to threaten the Jaguars downfield if the Jaguars decide to send the house on a blitz, and the Jaguars have a  cornerback duo in Darious Williams and Tyson Campbell they can trust. Rookie quarterbacks have to adjust to the multitude of exotic defensive looks early on in their career, and there is no better way to attempt to introduce Richardson to the NFL than to throw the kitchen sink at him. 

Q: How do you think our pass rush will look against the Colts?

A: I think the Colts will not likely leave Anthony Richardson to the wolves and ask him to dropback 40 times. I also do not think they have the offense to do what they did vs. the Jaguars in Week 6 last year, which was simply dink-and-dunk and get the ball out of the quarterback's hands immediately. I think the Jaguars find some success, but it won't remind anyone of the opener vs. Houston in 2017. Two to three sacks sounds right. 

Q: When most of our defense is still "has potential" and pretty unproven, do we really deserve to be so excited about the upcoming season?

A: I think so. The Jaguars would not be the first team in NFL history to be successful with a middling defense if that were to happen. Some teams are built around the offense and specifically the quarterback position, and the Jaguars are one of those teams. I mean, the Jaguars had a bottom-five pass-defense by DVOA a year ago and they still managed to advance to the second-round of the playoffs in spite of it. Since the offense should be even better this year than it was a season ago, I think there is plenty to get excited about regardless of what the defense brings to the table. 

Q: Has there been an update on Fatukasi's injury and will he play in Week one?

It looks like Foley Fatukasi will play, which is huge for the Jaguars considering they will need all the defenders they can get to stop Anthony Richardson in the running game. Fatukasi practiced fully on Wednesday and the expectation should be for him to start alongside Roy Robertson-Harris.

Q: Cole Van Lanen is now listed as a RT. He struggled at guard last season, has he looked better at tackle?

A: I would agree with you; Cole Van Lanen didn't play much last year, but it makes sense why the Jaguars upgraded the backup right guard spot with Cooper Hodges considering Van Lanen's struggles in limited snaps. I thought Van Lanen had a good preseason and a solid-enough training camp, and he never seemed like a player who was outside the roster bubble entering the final stretch of training camp and the preseason. I do expect Blake Hance to be the next man up at tackle, though, and not Van Lanen.

Q: Comparisons of the Lions and Jags going into this 2023 season has been a pretty common talking point. What's your take on it?

A: Personally, the Jaguars should be ahead in terms of optimism. The Lions punched the Jaguars in the mouth in a blowout last season, but the Jaguars have more going their way at quarterback and in terms of the skill positions. The Jaguars already have playoff experience with their young roster, too, and a head coach who has proven he can take a team deep into the postseason. The Lions have a lot going for them, but Jared Goff is no Trevor Lawrence and Dan Campbell is no Doug Pederson -- at least not yet. 

Q: Because I am scarred from the last decade of Jaguars football I have to ask this question. Outside of injury, what would be some early red flags to look out for that this season might not be as promising as we all think it will be?

A: I personally think it is interesting to see how a lot of people are viewing this Jaguars team. I predicted them to have a bottom-10 pass defense, but I also think they win between 12 to 13 games, which is how I think they should be viewed. So yes, red flags consist of the secondary depth behind Tyson Campbell and Darious Williams; the pass-rush depth after losing Arden Key; and the offensive line's performance after an offseason of predictions for them to be a potential anchor. 

With that said, I think the Jaguars' offense is going to be special in 2023. They have the coach, the scheme, the weapons, and, most importantly, the quarterback. This should mitigate any of those red flags.

Q: TL had a lot of fumbles last year. Has he done anything to manage that aspect of his game coming into the new season?

A: It is a fair question to ask because only three quarterbacks fumbled more than the dozen times Trevor Lawrence did: Justin Fields, Matt Ryan and Josh Allen. Lawrence fumbled 12 times and lost nine, though it is worth remembering four of those fumbles happened in a downpour vs. the Eagles. If you take those away, Lawrence would have had eight fumbles and lost five, which would have ranked still among the highest in the NFL, but not nearly as bad as the original numbers look. 

Lawrence has talked a lot this offseason and training camp about limiting turnovers, so one would think that he has made the fumbles a serious priority. We won't know until the season begins, but Lawrence is at least cognizant that he turned the ball over too much a year ago.