Why Fans — and Fantasy Players — Need to Get Used to Varying Production From Jaguars RBs and WRs
For the second consecutive week, a Jacksonville Jaguars starting wide receiver ended the game with one catch or less. Considering the highly-touted group of skill players Jacksonville possesses, it is surprising to see any of the options end a game without multiple touches.
Welcome to the Doug Pederson experience. Jaguars offensive coordinator Press Taylor may be directly responsible for the play calls these days, but Pederson has reached the highest level of football by implementing creative approaches that involve a wide cast of position players.
But the way the Jaguars head coach’s approach works isn’t focused around on ensuring everyone gets a chance to contribute. It’s about matchups and linking quarterback Trevor Lawrence up with the most potent weapon in that game.
In Week 1’s win over the Indianapolis Colts , Jacksonville WR Zay Jones was second only to Calvin Ridley for yards from scrimmage, totaling 55 yards and a touchdown on five catches. A week later against the Kansas City Chiefs, Jones was targeted six times and didn't record a catch.
Conversely, Christian Kirk brought down a single catch on three targets in Week 1, before being targeted a whopping 14 times against Kansas City. Kirk caught 11 passes for 110 yards.
While the offense did in fact lay a dud against the Chiefs, it’s clear that the Jaguars (and Lawrence) are not afraid to take different approaches and try different weapons to find success.
This is also evident in how Jacksonville runs the ball: against Indianapolis, the Jaguars ran the ball 35 times. A week later, despite being in a one-score game for the majority of the contest, Jacksonville ran it just 18 times.
Having a plethora of offensive talent is not enhanced by getting everyone the ball at a consistent pace, in fact, it’s the opposite. Pederson and Taylor are in Jacksonville to find the mismatches, abuse them, and look at how the touches are going later.
One may read this or look at the numbers and think that it’s Lawrence’s tendencies that are creating the disparity in production. His decisions and playmaking obviously play a factor, but a peek into the snap counts shows how the coaching staff’s approach is the basis for the increases and drops in individual production.
In Kirk’s one-catch showing against the Colts, he played 60% of the team’s offensive snaps (42,) the least of any of the starting WRs. In his monster day against Kansas City, Kirk played 81% of the offensive snaps (54,) the most of the starting WRs.
The same situation is seen with Jones. 89% of the offensive snaps during his standout performance against Indy, just 66% in a quiet day against Kansas City.
Jaguars fans, and fantasy football players, should get used to this. With the presence of a true No. 1 WR in Ridley and a second promising RB in Tank Bigsby, the Pederson offense is fully fleshed out and that means having a variety of tools to unlock a game.
As the season progresses, there will be some clear trends and adjustments based on what’s working and what’s not. Players like Ridley will have consistent snap counts just due to his skill, while tight end Evan Engram is a unique option that the Jaguars don’t have a like-for-like option to rotate.
But even then, the norm will be the flow of touches rushing to or from each skill player, depending on the opponent and the situation. It’s not “feast or famine,” it’s the process of reaching offensive equilibrium.
