5 Greatest Areas of Concern for Jaguars' 2020 Outlook
While we have often pointed to areas of the Jacksonville Jaguars' roster that are worth being optimistic about, it is important to point out that things are far from all positive for a team who has gone 11-21 in the last two seasons.
The Jaguars have finished in last place of the AFC South in each of the past two years, creating a situation in 2020 in which the team's brass has been given public win-now mandates. The Jaguars have failed to put forth winning football teams in the last two seasons, and they have no choice but to reverse course now.
But what aspects of the team could prove most detrimental toward the goal of finishing 2020 with a winning record? There are a number of glaring issues facing the Jaguars before the season kicks off on Sept. 13 vs. the Indianapolis Colts, but a few are more pressing over the rest of the group.
What are the greatest areas of concern facing the team before Week 1? We make an attempt to label them here.
Left tackle shuffle
For much of the 2020 offseason, we projected the Jaguars to consider making a big move at left tackle, whether via trade or with one of their two first-round picks. But Jacksonville opted to pass on trading for Trent Williams or drafting Mekhi Becton, Jedrick Wills or Tristan Wirfs in the first round, leaving Cam Robinson and now third-year lineman Will Richardson as the team's top options at left tackle.
Robinson has started plenty of games at left tackle since being drafted in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft, but he has battled inconsistency in pass protection and penality issues in the past. He had rough stretches of play in 2019 after he returned to the field from a 2018 ACL injury, and he is now entering a contract year in which he badly needs to show the Jaguars he can be a long-term starter at left tackle.
Richardson, meanwhile, started two games at left tackle last season while spending the rest of the season at right guard. He has plenty of athleticism and impressed in his limited snaps last season, but he is almost as inexperienced at left tackle as a rookie would be. There is a lot of potential there, but as of now it is purely potential.
Do the Jaguars have a 16-game starter at left tackle who they can trust to hold down the fort without serious lapses? As of now, the answer is unclear. Until the answer is an affirmative yes, this will be an area of concern.
Defensive tackle depth
Jacksonville has been known for its ferocious front seven in the past several years, but a big part of that in the past was the team's strength at defensive tackle. Malik Jackson, Marcell Dareus and Calais Campbell gave the Jaguars three formidable interior disrupters, and now the Jaguars will have to adjust to life without Dareus and Campbell for the first time since each joined the team in 2017. Add in the opt out of 11th-year veteran Al Woods, who was set to play a major role at nose tackle in 2020, and the Jaguars have serious questions at defensive tackle.
Now, the Jaguars will have to lean on a group comprised of Rodney Gunter (11 career sacks in five seasons) Abry Jones (9.5 sacks in seven seasons), Taven Bryan (3 sacks in two seasons), Dawuane Smoot (six sacks in three seasons), and rookie DaVon Hamilton, who had seven sacks in four seasons at Ohio State.
Jacksonville has potential at the position, specifically with Gunter, Bryan, Smoot and Hamilton. But as of today, the Jaguars don't have an abundance of established difference-makers inside, something that could potentially hold the defense back in a big way if development doesn't take place.
Vague future at quarterback
There is little debate that Gardner Minshew exceeded expectations as a rookie. The 2019 sixth-round pick was originally drafted to be the backup to recently-signed Nick Foles, but that all changed in Week 1 last year when Foles went down with a clavicle injury. Minshew went on to start 12 of the next 15 games, winning six of those starts in the process and passing for over 3,200 yards and throwing 21 touchdowns to six interceptions.
“What happened to Nick Foles was unfortunate, a freak injury. Then, this rookie steps in and I don’t know his stats that game, but it was pretty remarkable, his attempts and completions but as the weeks went on he wasn’t a rookie anymore," center Brandon Linder said in a video press conference this week. "He came to play every game. He had a look in his eye, and everyone admired that and got behind that.”
But is Minshew undoubtedly the guy at quarterback? In the sense that he is Jacksonville's best option at quarterback in 2020, the answer is yes. Minshew deserves to start every game for the Jaguars this year as they try to find the answer as to whether Minshew is the long-term answer. But along that same line, the Jaguars will need to see if Minshew is good enough to lead them to a winning record now and not just down the road.
Giving Minshew command of the offense in 2020 was the right move by the Jaguars' brass, but the question of whether he can be a winning NFL quarterback will remain until it simply doesn't anymore.
Young secondary
With Darqueze Dennard's agreement with the team falling through earlier this offseason, the Jaguars turned to veteran cornerback Rashaan Melvin as their veteran addition in the secondary. But it was announced Thursday that Melvin would be opting out of the 2020 season, creating a void on the Jaguars' depth chart.
Melvin was potentially going to compete with Tre Herndon for a starting job across from No. 9 overall pick CJ Henderson, but now the Jaguars' cornerback room is left with just Hayden as a tenured vet. Herndon and backup cornerback Parry Nickerson are entering their third years, but the two have a combined 17 starts between them over the last two seasons, with 14 of those coming from Herndon last year.
After those two, it is Hayden, an eighth-year veteran, second-year cornerback Brandon Watson, three rookie draft picks in Henderson, Josiah Scott and Chris Claybrooks, and then a mix of undrafted rookie free agents.
The Jaguars' aren't much more experienced at safety, either. Jarrod Wilson turned in his first season as a starter in 2019, while Ronnie Harrison is entering his third season with 22 starts under his belt. Their backups consist of undrafted free agent J.R. Reed and second-year safety Andrew Wingard, who started two games last season.
While Melvin was not even a lock to be the starter, he was at least a veteran presence in the backend. Now, the Jaguars will have to rely on a group of young players with hopes of them developing at a fast pace.
Question marks around offensive weapons
Until the Jaguars improve their scoring offense, they will continue to be labeled as a team that is devoid of offensive weapons. The reality is they are closer to middle of the pack than anything else, but the quality of offensive playmakers will be a concern until it becomes a bonafide strength.
Close defenders of the Jaguars would argue that a group consisting of DJ Chark, Laviska Shenault, Chris Conley, Dede Westbrook, Tyler Eifert, Leonard Fournette and Chris Thompson is a formidable group of veteran playmakers, while young players like Laviska Shenault and Josh Oliver have high ceilings. Dissenters would say that Chark is the only premiere talent, while the rest of the players are a mix of journeyman veterans and career underachievers.
Like we said, the true depiction of Jacksonville's skill players is likely more in between these two views. But still, the Jaguars need to see that Conley and Westbrook can take big steps forward, that Eifert can stay healthy and that Fournette can be a dynamic back. None of these things are certain, and neither is the possibility of Oliver and Shenault making large impacts. Until there is more clarity on whether the team's playmakers have taken that next step or not, this will be an area of concern.
