Here’s What Jaguars Need to Do to Raise Offensive Ceiling

The Jacksonville Jaguars hired Liam Coen to help Trevor Lawrence become what Baker Mayfield was last season.

Cleveland Browns defensive end Alex Wright (91) sacks Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) in the end zone for a safety during the fourth quarter of an NFL football matchup Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024 at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. The Browns defeated the Jaguars 18-13. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union] / Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Upon arrival in Duval County, James Gladstone and Liam Coen saw the film. They saw Trevor Lawrence struggling with too much weight on his 6-foot-6 shoulders the past two seasons.

In Tampa Bay last season, Coen designed the Buccaneers’ offense to take pressure off the shoulders of Baker Mayfield. The results were impressive. Tampa Bay won its division and finished 10-7 while Mayfield enjoyed the best year of his career, ranking tied for second in touchdown passes (41), third in passing yards (4,500) and fourth in passer rating (106.8).

But the best thing Coen did for Mayfield was to dramatically improve the Bucs’ ground attack. Tampa Bay’s rushing offense was last in the league in both 2022 (76.9 yards per game) and 2023 (88.8). In Coen’s first season as offensive coordinator last year, the team improved to fourth (149.2).

Making the quarterback’s job easier is Coen’s strength, according to Dan Pizzuta from The 33rd Team.

“I think that’s what was missing so much in Jacksonville,” Pizzuta said Tuesday on 1010 XL. “I think they saw Trevor Lawrence and went, ‘Oh, you're very good at all of this stuff. We're going to put all of this on your plate.’ And there was, there was no margin for error in so much of what Trevor Lawrence did over the past couple of years. If he was not perfect, this offense was not functioning.”

Keeping the offense functioning also takes a solid offensive line. The Jaguars already have added four offensive linemen since free agency began, signing center Robert Hainsey, guard Patrick Mekari and tackles Chuma Edoga and Fred Johnson. And with 10 picks in next month’s draft, they’re far from finished upgrading in the trenches.

Gladstone said last week that Hainsey, who played last season in Tampa Bay, also will help ease the burden on Lawrence by helping him learn Coen’s offense.

“That's some weight off the shoulders of Trevor at the line of scrimmage,” Gladstone said, “that now because of the familiarity from Robert he doesn't have to bear as a quarterback.”

And like Tampa Bay last year, Coen said his goal is to improve the run game. Since the Jaguars drafted Lawrence, they’ve finished 22nd in 2021 (103.2 rushing yards per game), 14th in 2022 (124.5), 24th in 2023 (96.8) and 26th in 2024 (101.7). Not surprisingly, the best season of Lawrence’s career was 2022, when the team also enjoyed its best rushing numbers in that span.

“It's very hard for any quarterback to have that kind of down in, down out like he did,” Pizzuta said. “So, taking the load off of him is going to make him better, and I think that's kind of going to be what the new Coen offense really is, which I think is something to be optimistic about if you’re a Jags fan looking at what the ceiling could potentially be for this offense.”

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