What is the State of the Jaguars' Wide Receiver Group Ahead of the Draft?
In only a few weeks, the 2020 NFL Draft will at last commence. This year's draft will obviously be dramatically different due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has forced the draft to become a completely virtual event. But nonetheless, the show marches on.
While we gear up in preparation for the draft, we will be looking at each position group on the Jacksonville Jaguars' roster to gauge where it stands before this month's draft. Which groups need more attention, and which appear to be set?
In this edition, we take a look at the Jaguars' wide receiver room, which is led by 2019 breakout player DJ Chark. Do the Jaguars need to continue to add to the position, or are they set for 2020?
What the Jaguars have said about the group
"The one thing about offense is you always want playmakers and you’re always looking. I don’t know that I’ve ever heard said, ‘Oh my gosh, we have enough.’ It’s one of those things that you never have enough," head coach Doug Marrone said on March 31. "It’s like chocolate chip cookies. There’s never enough in the house for me.”
"I think offensively we’re expecting our offensive line to take a big jump from what they did last year, but again, how many weapons, how many playmakers do we have surrounding the quarterback position? Do we have enough of those guys that can make plays? That’s really the key when you look at it, explosive plays are coming from playmakers.”
Who the Jaguars have lost in 2020
Nobody. Every wide receiver that caught a pass for the Jaguars in 2019 is still currently on the roster, including depth players such as Michael Walker and C.J. Board. The one player most presumed would be off the roster at this point, Marqise Lee, has yet to be released following a season-ending shoulder injury that cut his 2019 season short.
Who the Jaguars currently have at the position
DJ Chark: 23-years-old, 14 career starts. Entering third season. Caught 73 passes for 1,008 yards and eight touchdowns in 2019.
Dede Westbrook: 26-years-old, 25 career starts. Entering fourth season. Caught 66 passes for 660 yards and three touchdowns in 2019.
Chris Conley: 27-years-old, 48 career starts. Entering sixth season. Caught 47 passes for 775 yards and five touchdowns in 2019.
Marqise Lee: 28-years-old, 30 starts. Entering seventh season. Caught three passes for 18 yards in 2019.
Keelan Cole: 26-years-old, 18 career starts. Entering fourth season. Caught 24 passes for 361 yards and three touchdowns.
C.J. Board: 26-years-old, zero career starts. Entering fourth season. Caught two passes for 31 yards in 2019.
Michael Walker: 23-years-old, zero career starts. Entering second season. Caught two passes for 15 yards in 2019.
Terry Godwin: 23-years-old, zero career starts. Entering second season. No stats in 2019.
Charone Peake: 27-years old, one career start. Entering fifth season. No stats in 2019.
The Jaguars' wide receiver group is headlined by four players, each of whom has varying degrees of importance. Chark is one of the best players on the Jaguars' roster and has the talent to be a legitimate No. 1 wide receiver year in and year out, something the Jaguars have missed since Allen Robinson. Chark can stretch the field vertically, play above the rim, take short passes for a long gain, or work the middle of the field. As long as he remains healthy, the sky is the limit for the tall and athletic wideout entering his third season.
Chris Conley entered Jacksonville as a starting wide receiver last year after having a mixed bag of production with the Kansas City Chiefs, but he had a solid season in 2019 all things considered. Conley had issues with consistency in terms of catching the ball, but he is electric after the catch and turned in some of the Jaguars' most explosive plays. He doesn't have the hands to be a top-two receiving option, but he can make plays.
Dede Westbrook had a lot of hype heading into 2019 as his role in the slot was expected to produce big results, but there was more sizzle than substance on the field last year. He had flashes of solid play at the intermediate and deep levels of the field, but it felt as if he was miscast as a slot receiver who ran mostly underneath routes. He had inconsistent bouts of drops, as well.
Keelan Cole didn't see the field much, playing a career-low snap count with only 370 snaps (34% of offensive snaps), but he was fairly productive on a per-snap and per-target basis. He was one of the team's best red-zone threats thanks to a handful of touchdowns in the congested part of the field, and he showed a good bit of improvement from the year before. He deserves more snaps.
Marqise Lee has had each of his last two seasons ended prematurely due to injuries, with an ACL injury in the 2018 preseason and the aforementioned shoulder injury last season. Since signing a big extension in 2017, Lee has played in six games and caught three passes for 18 yards. Even when healthy, Lee had taken a backseat to Chark, Conley, and Westbrook last season.
The rest of the receiver group is made up of depth players who didn't see the field much sans special teams reps in 2019. The Jaguars were high on C.J. Board after an impressive preseason last year, but there was a logjam in front of him. Michael Walker got a lot of chances as a kick returner but a pair of fumbles limited him to a reserve receiver role. The Jaguars re-signed Terry Godwin this offseason after he spent most of last year on the practice squad.
Overall, the Jaguars have one stud receiver and then a group of role players and depth pieces. Cole, Westbrook, and Conley can all provide value to an offense, but there are legitimate questions about if any of them can be a No. 2 wideout in an offense.
The Jaguars have pieces at receiver, but they still need a pure possession receiver who can consistently win across the middle and in contested catch situations. Until they find a compliment for Chark, the receiver group will continue to run through one play with erratic production from the rest of the room.
