Jaguars' Gardner Minshew II Ranks 30th on Chris Simms' QB List
One year ago, Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew II would not have found his name anywhere near a ranking of the top quarterbacks in the league. But after winning more games than any other rookie passer in 2019, and playing well enough to convince the Jaguars to roll the dice on him in 2020, that has changed.
In a list of the top 40 passers entering the 2020 season compiled by former NFL quarterback and current NBC Sports analyst Chris Simms, Minshew found himself at No. 30 overall.
Minshew ranks ahead of former Jaguars quarterback Nick Foles, Case Keenum, Jameis Winston, Tyrod Taylor, Jarrett Stidham, Taysom Hill, Justin Herbert, Mitchell Trubisky, Dwayne Haskins, and Tua Tagovailoa.
"The bar is low for Minshew and the Jaguars in 2020, which is actually a good thing. It will be easy for him and for the team to meet expectations, given that the expectations are and will be so low," Pro Football Talk wrote. "If they overachieve, Minshew will secure his future in Jacksonville — and he’ll rise in the quarterback rankings as 2021 approaches. If they fail, a housecleaning may be coming for the Jaguars.
"Bet the over. The addition of offensive coordinator Jay Gruden has been one of the more overlooked moves of the offseason. The offense will improve. Minshew likely will improve. And the Jaguars, while not ready to get back to the brink of the Super Bowl, will quite possibly move in a different direction."
Minshew, who was drafted by the Jaguars in the sixth round of the 2019 NFL Draft to backup Foles, was thrown into the fire early on as a rookie. While he got zero starter snaps during preseason and training camp, he was tasked with leading the Jaguars from the start of the season after Foles went down with a broken collarbone in Week 1.
Minshew would start the next eight games, going 4-4 as a starter while Foles was recovering from his injury. Foles would eventually take his place back in the starting lineup, but Minshew wouldn't be on the bench for long. In Week 13, he replaced Foles at halftime and started the rest of the season, finishing the year with a 6-6 record as a starter.
In 14 games, Minshew threw 21 touchdown passes and only six interceptions. He also completed over 60% of his passes for 3,271 yards, along with adding 350 scrambling yards.
Pro Football Focus graded Minshew as their highest-rated rookie quarterback in 2019, with a 70.3 grade, ahead of Rookie of the Year and Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray. He also came in only behind Lamar Jackson (430 yards) among all quarterbacks in scramble yards (350 yards) and ahead of Russell Wilson (335 yards). Continuing with PFF’s analytics grading scale, the site ranked Minshew as the 20th best quarterback overall of the 2019 season and as the third-best deep passer.
"He’s a shining reason why once the opportunity presents itself, you take advantage of it. He did that, and he’s put himself in a great position to take the Jacksonville Jaguars and lead them into the future," offensive coordinator Jay Gruden said last week.
"He has shown a skillset where he can sit in a pocket, step up, make things happen outside the pocket. He’s accurate, he’s tough and obviously he’s a great leader so he’s got the intangibles you want in a quarterback. Now he’s got to get to know the team, get to know the offense a little bit so we can all gel together.”
