AFC Divisional Round Will Feature the Ghosts of Jacksonville’s Quarterback Past
The Jacksonville Jaguars may or may not have a quarterback to build around in 2019 sixth-round selection Gardner Minshew II. The jury is still very much out despite his flashes in his rookie season.
Meanwhile, the jury isn't out on three of the four remaining quarterbacks in the AFC postseason.
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is well on his way to winning the Most Valuable Player award, the same award Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes won last season. Meanwhile, Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson once again had a dazzling season and most recently led the Texans to a 16-point comeback victory over the Buffalo Bills in the Wild-Card round of the playoffs on Saturday.
What do these three quarterbacks have in common? It is both simple and painful from Jacksonville's perspective: each could have been Jaguars.
Minshew absolutely deserves a full season as a starter to see if he is the signal-caller of the future or not, but make no mistake about the fact Jacksonville wasted better opportunities to find the answer at the most important position in professional sports.
While the Jaguars sit back and watch the next wave of elite, young quarterbacks in the AFC duke it out during the divisional round of the playoffs, they will be left wondering what could have been. Could any of Jackson, Watson, or Mahomes change Jacksonville's long-term fortunes and reverse its penchant for losing? The likelihood is high, no matter how much of a success Jacksonville's 2017 season was.
Entering the 2017 NFL Draft, the Jaguars' quarterback room consisted of career backup Chad Henne and Blake Bortles, who was perhaps the worst starting quarterback in the entire NFL the season before. Picking fourth overall, Jacksonville was in prime position to upgrade at quarterback. Nothing else would have made much sense. This isn't a hindsight opinion either; it was obvious then that Jacksonville had to pick a quarterback.
Instead, the Jaguars selected running back Leonard Fournette. Not only was this poor value considering how many other running backs in the same draft class have gone on to have great careers thus far, but it meant Jacksonville passed on two quarterbacks who have already proven they are franchise passers. T
The Chiefs and Texans each feasted on Jacksonville's mistakes; Kansas City took Mahomes 10th overall, while the Texans selected Watson two picks later.
Jacksonville's decision to build an offense around Fournette instead of finding a new franchise quarterback paid off in 2017. Fournette ran for over 1,000 yards and helped carry Jacksonville's offense to a 10-6 record and an AFC Championship Game appearance.
In the years since though, Jacksonville had paid dearly for its misguided decision. Jacksonville is 11-21 in the last two seasons, while the Chiefs are 24-8 and Texans are 21-11. Both Mahomes and Watson have not only been terrific regular season quarterbacks, but have won playoff games as well.
Jacksonville's negligence when it comes to drafting quarterbacks wasn't reserved for just the 2017 draft, though. Following the 2017 season, the Jaguars naively gave Bortles a multi-year contract extension despite it being obvious he wasn't the driving force for their success.
Due to doubling down on the Bortles mistake, Jacksonville decided to once again ignore upgrading at quarterback during the draft. In 2018, Jacksonville passed on Jackson and instead opted to select defensive tackle Taven Bryan with the 29th overall selection. Jackson would end up being taken at 32 by the Ravens.
Since then, Bryan has three career sacks and one forced fumbles, while Jackson has set the entire NFL on fire and turned the Ravens into an offensive juggernaut. While Jacksonville has gone 11-21 since passing on Jackson, the Ravens have gone 24-8 and gone to the postseason twice.
Jacksonville's short-term solution to fixing the offense paid off in 2017, but has predictably become a worse decision as time has gone on. The decision to stick with Bortles in 2018 never made any sense and is one the Jaguars continue to pay for.
While Mahomes, Jackson, and Watson continue to lead their teams to double-digit win seasons, playoff seasons and rack up MVP awards, Jacksonville can only hope that they are able to replicate that success with their own quarterbacks sooner than later.
Until then, weekends like next week's divisional round will only continue to serve as a reminder for what could have been, and what should have been.
