Jaguars' Offensive Weapons Ranked Best in AFC South
Few offensive units received as much criticism as the Jacksonville Jaguars' skill groups last season.
Aside from James Robinson and flashes from pass-catchers such as Dan Arnold, Marvin Jones and Laquan Treadwell, the Jaguars failed to generate many positive offensive plays last year.
As a result, the Jaguars made it a priority this offseason to add veteran talent. They signed wide receivers Christian Kirk and Zay Jones, along with tight end Evan Engram. They also drafted Ole Miss running back Snoop Conner in the fifth round and are seeing 2021 first-round running back Travis Etienne return from a Lisfranc injury that held him out as a rookie.
But do the additions the Jaguars made push them to a higher level than they were at last year? Expecting to from one of the worst weapon groups in the NFL to one of the best is unrealistic, but have the Jaguars made a jump at least?
The 33rd Team thinks so, going as far as to say the Jaguars have the best overall weapon group in the AFC South. The 33rd Team placed the Jaguars in the league's fifth tier, with the group having seven tiers overall. Jacksonville joined the New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers.
"Tier 5 consists of the teams lacking true star talent at multiple position groups. Mostly, these players are effective at their given job, but are lackluster in multiple categories of star power, depth, consistency, health, and distributed talent," The 33rd Team said to describe the tier. "These teams have a multitude of young talent that could rise in the ranks, but it has not been seen yet."
Obviously, being in the fifth tier does not signal a team is set to be The Greatest Show On Turf, but it does place the Jaguars above eight over teams, which includes the Jaguars' three AFC South Rivals. The Tennessee Titans and Indianapolis Colts were placed in the sixth tier, while the Houston Texans were placed in the seventh.
"All of these teams in Tier 6 have top tier run games, with the ability for their RBs to create explosives on the ground and in the air. They lack talent on the outside and have serious concerns beyond their WR1," The 33rd Team said. "These are the bottom half of the WR1’s in the NFL, and while their run games are strong their pass catching options beyond WR1 are shaky and hard to trust consistently."
"As we approach the last tier of position groups, we see a common trend: the lack of a true and proven WR1. While a lot of young talent are present in this company, the No. 1 option in the passing game is lacking," The 33rd Team said to describe the seventh and final tier.
"These will be the teams that could struggle due to their lack of diverse talent on their offense. They can be one-dimensional at times and can lack consistency."
This is surprising because arguably the two best players in the entire division are Titans running back Derrick Henry and Colts running back Jonathan Taylor, but the Jaguars offer depth at running back, receiver and tight end.
Whether the Jaguars make the jump on offense under first-year head coach Doug Pederson and offensive coordinator Press Taylor depends heavily on the shoulders of second-year quarterback Trevor Lawrence. But if the Jaguars' weapons prove to be as effective as this ranking predicts among their AFC South tiers, then Lawrence's job will be made that much easier.
The Jaguars won't know until the pads come on and Week 1 rolls around. But for now, they like what they see from their new weapons and their bonding with the ones returning from 2022, even at this early stage of the offseason.
"It’s hard because these guys are protecting each other. It’s full speed, but at the same time, we don’t have pads on, just helmets. It’s hard, but you can kind of see how guys are retaining information, the subtle adjustments the o-line and d-line are making in live action against each other," Pederson said last week about OTAs.
"You really can’t fully dive into it probably until training camp when you can really hit and the pads come on. But this is good too from the standpoint of just executing our plays, offensively and defensively, and I think getting some good evaluations that way with just how well these guys are retaining information.”
