Who Does PFF Think the Jaguars' Top 3 Players Are in 2024?

Three homegrown Jacksonville Jaguars take the lead in PFF's roundup of each franchise's top 3 players entering 2024.

Dec 31, 2023; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars outside linebacker Josh Allen (41) celebrates breaking the single season sack record against the Carolina Panthers during the second quarter at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Morgan Tencza-USA TODAY Sports / Morgan Tencza-USA TODAY Sports

The Jacksonville Jaguars, like most teams, have harped on the importance of the NFL draft and developing their own players over the last several years.

As a result of that emphasis, the Jaguars' best players are, likely for the first time in several years, all players who were drafted by the Jaguars.

Pro Football Focus recently listed the top three players for each team entering 2024, with the Jaguars' trio coming down to outside linebacker Josh Allen, running back Travis Etienne and quarterback Trevor Lawrence.

Allen, a 2019 first-round pick by the Dave Caldwell, Tom Coughlin and Doug Marrone regime, is the only player not picked by the current duo of general manager Trent Baalke and head coach Doug Pederson.

Josh Allen was an easy choice for this exercise last year, and it’s even easier ahead of 2024. His 84.7 overall grade in 2022 jumped to 89.4 in 2023 thanks to his 16.5 sacks.

Trevor Lawrence was the highest-graded offensive player in Jacksonville last year (81.1). His deep passing was excellent, helping him rank top 10 in most categories on throws beyond 20 yards. But he also turned the ball over at a high rate.

Running back Travis Etienne was consistently impactful in the first two years of his career, notching 1,000-plus yards and 0.25 missed tackles forced per carry in each season.

- Trevor Sikkema, Pro Football Focus

Etienne finished 2023 with 1,008 yards (3.8 yards per carry) and 11 touchdowns, while also catching 58 passes for 476 yards and a touchdown.

Etienne posted at least two rushing touchdowns in three straight games from Week 5 to Week 7. He became the first player in franchise history to record multiple rushing touchdowns in three consecutive games in a season.

Etienne recorded 1,484 scrimmage yards in 2023, joining Maurice Jones-Drew as the only Jaguars to reach 1,000 scrimmage yards in their first two active NFL seasons. Etienne is the third player in Jaguars history to record 1,300 scrimmage yards in consecutive seasons.

Allen, the No. 7 pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, is the first Jaguars' first-round pick to sign an extension with the team since Blake Bortles.

Allen broke the Jaguars' rookie sack record in 2019 with 10.5 sacks before breaking the single-season sack record with 17.5 sacks in 2023. Allen was one of the NFL's most productive pass-rushers in 2023, combining with Travon Walker for 27.5 sacks to lead all pass-rusher duos.

In five years with the Jaguars, Allen has recorded 45 sacks, 53 tackles for loss, nine forced fumbles, and two interceptions.

Lawrence finished the season completing 65.6% of his passes for 4,016 yards, 21 touchdowns and 14 interceptions, along with seven lost fumbles. Lawrence also missed his first career start as he dealt with four different injuries, with Lawrence seemingly having to limp to the finish of the season.

Lawrence sustained four different injuries last fall that forced him to miss valuable practice time and play in several games with injuries: a knee injury in Week 6, an ankle injury in Week 13, a concussion in Week 15, and then finally a shoulder injury in Week 16 that forced him to miss his first-career start.

Among Lawrence's 16 starts, his four starts after each injury saw Lawrence have his 2nd, 5th, 7th, and 8th worst games of the season by total EPA.