Kicker Battle, Tebow and More: 5 Biggest Questions Facing the Jaguars This Summer
In 81 days, a new era will officially begin for the Jacksonville Jaguars as Trevor Lawrence and Urban Meyer take the field for the first time to lead the Jaguars to a gridiron victory.
Until then though, the Jaguars have a host of questions throughout the roster that need to be answered. Who will win important jobs? Should any trades be made? Just how can the Jaguars get the roster ready for Week 1 against the Houston Texans?
To get an idea of exactly what hurdles the Jaguars need to clear, we present our five biggest questions facing the team as they prepare for training camp and the regular season.
Who has the edge on the kicking job?
Josh Lambo is fighting for the starting kicker job for the first time in his Jaguars' career this season. There is no longer any ambiguity surrounding the role, with Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer and special teams coordinator Nick Sorensen stating during minicamp that Lambo's split practice reps with Aldrick Rosas are a competition, nothing less and nothing more.
"Well, I think it’s what it is, it’s a competition. We’ve got two guys, they’re both very good kickers and they’re competing to win the job," Sorensen said last Tuesday. "That’s what we’re doing every day and they’ve both been great.”
Lambo is the most accurate kicker in franchise history and has proven to be a more reliable and consistent kicker than Rosas in past seasons, but injuries also limited Lambo to just four games last season. As a result, the Jaguars have to explore all options and potential backup plans.
Lambo has completed 88.9% of his field goals and 90.8% of his career extra points, including going 16 of 21 from 50 or more yards out and 33 of 43 from 40+ yards. Meanwhile, Rosas has made 81.4% of his career field goals and 92.2% of his career extra points, going 10 of 14 from 50 or more yards and 11 of 20 from 40+ yards.
Who has the edge moving into training camp will be telling when it comes to what the final results may be, but each kicker will have to perform in camp and earn the role. As of today, Lambo should be the favorite, but that doesn't mean this isn't still the biggest single competition on the roster heading into training camp.
How quickly can Darrell Bevell and Brian Schottenheimer get Trevor Lawrence acclimated to the NFL?
There is no player on the Jaguars' roster more important to their success in 2021 and beyond than No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence. As a result, how the Jaguars support Lawrence and surround him with the best talent on the field and on the coaching staff will be a top priority. That priority was made clear when Meyer made his hires for the two most important coaches to Lawrence's development, tabbing Darrell Bevell as Lawrence's play-caller and first offensive coordinator and Brian Schottenheimer as the team's passing game coordinator, essentially making him Lawrence's first NFL position coach.
Schottenheimer is fresh off a successful stint with Russell Wilson, while Bevell helped developed a rookie and young Wilson into a Super Bowl-winning quarterback in Seattle earlier in the decade. Couple the experience and recent success of both with Lawrence's draft pedigree, and the expectation in Jacksonville is simply for Lawrence to hit the ground running in 2021. As such, it will be up to the Jaguars' two coordinators to ensure they can answer the bell.
“Well, that was a big reason why I hired two coaches with a lot of experience in that regard and that’s Brian Schottenheimer and [Darrell] Bevell. In college, you have that tight rope. I think it’s a great question because that’s reality," Meyer said during last week's minicamp when asked about developing Lawrence while also winning.
"Reality is that everybody in this organization knows, whoever is going to be on that field is going to give us the best chance to win. We’re not looking four or five years down the road, but the reality is that you’ve got to—it’s the number one pick overall. So, Bevell and Schottenheimer, I’m leaning on them, but ultimately, I’ve got to make a decision for the guys that’ll help us win. But that’s a great question, that’s a daily conversation as well.”
Does Tim Tebow have a legitimate chance to make the roster?
While the signing of Tim Tebow and his transition from retired quarterback and minor league baseball player to NFL tight end was one of the bigger offseason stories for the Jaguars, Tebow became less and less of a story as the offseason progressed on the practice field. As he hit the practice field each day, the Tebow story became less and less of a talking point as the 33-year-old blended into the background among the rest of the Jaguars' backups. But that is in part due to the fact that the offseason practices were just that.
"Oh Tim has done a decent job. We all know this is a new position for him. You wish you could see and do [more]. In spring football, you have full pads and scrimmages, and you can really evaluate, but it’s kind of tough right now," Meyer said on June 8 during OTAs.
"But he’s a great teammate. In the locker room, I can see everybody getting along, we have a good chemistry on our team. But he’s picked it up decently.”
What about when pads come on and Tebow has to make plays physically as both a receiver and a blocker, two things he was never before asked to do at the NFL level? Will he surprise many throughout the league and look like a functional tight end and justify Meyer's bold decision to sign him, or will he look out of place enough to remind everyone just how unorthodox of a signing it was to begin with? Some of Meyer's credibility as a personnel decision-maker is at stake here as well, making it an even more important summer question.
Did the Jaguars do enough to address the pass-rush?
There is little question the Jaguars' pass-rush had to improve this offseason. A year ago, the Jaguars finished with just 18 sacks, averaging barely over a sack a game. The only team to finish with fewer sacks were the Cincinnati Bengals at 17. The only player on the defense with more than 2.5 sacks was Dawuane Smoot with 5.5. Overall, only three players even had multiple sacks, with one of those being inside linebacker Joe Schobert and one being defensive end Josh Allen, who played in only eight games.
As such, improving the Jaguars' putrid pass-rush from a year ago was one of the biggest things the Jaguars had to accomplish this offseason. And while they spent two fourth-round picks on the defensive line in Jay Tufele and Jordan Smith, the question still looms if the Jaguars did enough.
The Jaguars signed a trio of veteran free agent defensive lineman in Roy Robertson-Harris (7.5 career sacks), Malcom Brown (11.5 career sacks) and Jihad Ward (8 career sacks), but it remains to be seen if the Jaguars and defensive coordinator Joe Cullen can unlock their pass-rush potential.
What should the Jaguars do with Gardner Minshew?
There doesn't appear to be much of a potential trade market for third-year quarterback Gardner Minshew, which comes just six months after it appeared Minshew would be one of the most desirable quarterbacks on the market. An entire free agency and NFL Draft cycle have since passed, with teams signing, trading for, and drafting their 2021 starters and immediate competition. Meanwhile, Minshew has been left in Jacksonville and left in the lurch.
Minshew is the second-best quarterback on the Jaguars' roster by a considerable margin, outperforming CJ Beathard throughout the offseason. The Jaguars would likely gain more from having one of the NFL's top backup quarterbacks behind Lawrence than they would from trading Minshew for a late-round pick. The Jaguars could be patient and see if any team needs a quarterback during camp due to injury or poor performance, or they could be content with keeping Minshew on the roster as a backup in 2021.
