New Offensive Hires Give Jaguars Different Forms of Veteran Presences for Gardner Minshew
Not many teams have a quarterback room with as much youth, and as little experience, like the one the Jacksonville Jaguars currently boast, but the team's leader isn't overly concerned.
Following a trade that sent veteran quarterback Nick Foles to the Chicago Bears for a 2020 fourth-round selection, the only two quarterbacks on the roster are 23-year-old Gardner Minshew II, who has started 12 NFL games, and 25-year-old Josh Dobbs, who has started zero games and only thrown 12 regular season passes in his career.
While other veteran options remain on the trade block and in free agency with Jameis Winston, Cam Newton, and Andy Dalton, there is a real chance the Jaguars enter the 2020 season with Minshew and Dobbs as their starter and backup, which would make for the least experienced Jaguars' quarterback room in years.
Does this mean the Jaguars are missing out on a valuable component to the roster in form of a veteran presence for Minshew and Dobbs? In a way, yes, as head coach Doug Marrone, a former player himself, noted this week how important the presence of a teammate can be.
"I think that’s always good when you can have that person, that right guy that can go in there and win for you, that can help another player along," Marrone said. "It’s kind of the situation where I talked before when I was talking about Tyler Eifert, who’s going to come in here and what a great opportunity for Josh (Oliver) to be around him and for our team to learn from someone."
Will the Jaguars suffer from the lack of veteran experience at quarterback? It remains to be seen, but Marrone didn't disagree that it is at least a fair point to bring up with how the Jaguars' roster is currently constructed.
"In my experience as a player, you learn a lot from the coaches, but when I look back at my career and how I coached the position when I was a position coach, I learned a lot from other guys there," Marrone said. "I’ve been around a lot of really good football players. It’s a point well-taken."
If the Jaguars don't add a veteran quarterback like Newton or Dalton to the roster, how can they make up for the loss of experience? One way could be through the guidance of new offensive coordinator Jay Gruden and new quarterbacks coach Ben McAdoo.
Gruden has a long history of working with young quarterbacks thanks to his time spent with Andy Dalton and Kirk Cousins, while he is a former quarterback himself. Meanwhile, McAdoo has spent time serving as Aaron Rodgers' and Eli Manning's position coach in the past, giving him a wealth of knowledge in terms of how veteran passers should conduct themselves on and off the field.
"I think if you don’t have that, then where are you going to make up for it? The position coach has to make up for that. The coordinator has to make up for that," Marrone said. "It has to have that type of relationship that you can calm him down or pick him up when he needs to be and things of that nature. As far as Gardner and Josh, as far as how they are, as far as their work ethic and how they study, no issues with that. There’s nothing from that standpoint. It would be something like I said before: hey, look, when I was younger, this got me. That type of experience. But we’re relying on Jay and (Quarterbacks Coach) Ben (McAdoo) to be able to talk to our quarterbacks in that way if they wanted to have a veteran quarterback in that position.”
Jacksonville could still make a move to add a veteran quarterback before the 2020 season begins but if they don't, they will need Gruden and McAdoo to be in lockstep with Minshew and aid his development every step of the way.
Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach are already two of the most important positions on each coaching staff, but this is especially true for a Jaguars' roster that is lacking in experience in the quarterback room.
