Air it Out: How Has the Jaguars' Offense Distributed the Ball Through 5 Weeks?

Using data from Pro Football Reference we will look at targets, target share, air yards and much more as we dive into Jacksonville's passing game and what it means for the offense moving forward. With that said, here is how the Jaguars have distributed the ball through four weeks.

Targets

According to PFR, the Jaguars have distributed 186 targets to their skill players through the first four games. Here is how those targets have been divided. It is important to note that DJ Chark has played only four games and Dede Westbrook has played in just one. We will also list target market share, which shows the percentage of targets a player has gotten.

Player	Targets	Target Market Share
Keelan Cole	29	15.6%
Laviska Shenault Jr.	28	15%
Tyler Eifert	23	12.37%
James Robinson	22	11.8%
Chris Conley	22	11.8%
DJ Chark	20	10.75%
Chris Thompson	15	8%
James O'Shaughnessy	14	7.5%
Collin Johnson	10	5.4%
Bruce Miller	2	1.07%
Dede Westbrook	1	0.53%

It isn't surprising to see Keelan Cole and Laviska Shenault each still neck-and-neck for the top spot. They get consistently targeted each week and they do have one more game played each than Chark does this year.

What is surprising is seeing Tyler Eifert with the third-most targets. Chark, James Robinson and Chris Conley have all been out targeted by the veteran tight end this season, though he is the only one of the four to not have 100 yards receiving on the season.

Completed Air Yards/Air Yard %

Air yards is a great stat that shows the yardage a pass travels in the air before it is caught by a player. It essentially helps show the impact that yards after catch have on specific plays and with specific players. For instance, a 50-yard catch looks different if it is a catch-and-run on a screen than it would if it was a downfield pass. The total distance that a football is thrown beyond the line of scrimmage to the point of reception is air yards, and it shows which players are getting the deep shots in the offense. It should be noted that this specific usage of the metric focuses on completions.

So with that in mind, who is leading Jacksonville in air yards (761) and air yard percentage? We use PFR data to find the answer.

Player	Air Yards	Air Yard %
DJ Chark	188	24.7%
Keelan Cole	145	19.05%
Laviska Shenault Jr.	134	17.6%
Chris Conley	113	14.85%
James O'Shaughnessy	78	10.25%
Tyler Eifert	48	6.3%
Collin Johnson	40	5.25%
Chris Thompson	28	3.68%
Dede Westbrook	4	0.53%
Bruce Miller	-1	N/A
James Robinson	-16	N/A

Chris Conley takes a big jump here due to his 51-yard catch that was entirely air yars, bumping up his air yard % by almost 6% over one week. Outside of Chark, Conley is averaging a higher air yards per reception (8.7) than any player on the team. Shenault's air yards are still down in comparison to every non-running back but Tyler Eifert, though this is expected considering how many short passes the Jaguars give Shenault to attempt to get him into space.

Yards After Catch/Yards After Catch Per Reception

This one doesn't require any explanation. It is simply the yards a receiver has gotten this year once they have completed a catch. Here is how the Jaguars' skill players have ranked in that regard so far, with their yards after catch per reception in parentheses. Data per PFR.

Player	Yards After Catch	Yards After Catch Per Reception
James Robinson	199	10.5
Laviska Shenault Jr.	136	5.9
Chris Conley	77	5.9
Keelan Cole	74	3.5
Chris Thompson	68	5.2
Tyler Eifert	45	4.1
James O'Shaughnessy	37	3.1
DJ Chark	32	1.8
Collin Johnson	7	1.4
Bruce Miller	3	3.0
Dede Westbrook	0	0

James Robinson continues to be Jacksonville's top yards after the catch player, though this is more so due to the fact that he gets thrown only checkdowns, most of which he gains several yards on. Shenault and Chris Conley are the next two best players in terms of yards per catch given each opportunity, which makes sense since both of their strengths revolve around winning after the catch with athleticism.

First Downs/First Down %

Another self-explanatory one, this will keep track of first downs recorded by each skill player and which percentage of their targets have turned into first downs.

Player	First Downs	First Down %
Laviska Shenault Jr.	16	69.6%
Keelan Cole	14	48.3%
DJ Chark	14	70%
Chris Conley	9	40.1%
James Robinson	7	31.8%
Tyler Eifert	5	21.7%
James O'Shaughnessy	5	35.7%
Collin Johnson	4	40%
Chris Thompson	2	13.33%
Bruce Miller	1	50%
Dede Westbrook	0	0%

If the Jaguars need a first down, Laviska Shenault and DJ Chark have been far and away their most consistent and efficient targets. Chark has turned 14 of his 20 targets into first downs, which makes sense considering his air yards is so high. Bigger opportunities means bigger plays and more first downs. Tyler Eifert, however, is getting first downs at an astronomically low rate.

Passer Rating When Targeted

One of the most interesting stats of all is passer rating when targeted. It helps put into perspective which receivers the quarterback is having the most success when passing to, while also the ones who are the most disastrous players to target. Here is how Jacksonville's skill group shapes up in this department, via PFR.

Player	Passer Rating When Targeted
DJ Chark	152.1
Laviska Shenault Jr.	118.7
Chris Thompson	115.6
Keelan Cole	114.0
James Robinson	101.3
James O'Shaughnessy	100.9
Dede Westbrook	83.3
Chris Conley	68.4
Collin Johnson	57.1
Bruce Miller	56.2
Tyler Eifert	55.2

Once again, DJ Chark and Laviska Shenault have been the targets Gardner Minshew has had the most success throwing to. On the other hand, Collin Johnson has risen two spots and 55 points thanks to a touchdown and a big third-down catch against Houston. As for negative plays, Tyler Eifert continues to be the player Minshew just can not get on the same page as. Eifert caught three passes for 16 yards on seven targets on Sunday, giving him just over two yards per target.

Average Depth of Target

The last metric we will look at is the average depth of target, which explains itself in the name. It is the average distance of a pass when a player is targeted, taking both completions and incompletions into account. It shows which players are getting targeted downfield and which are being used on shorter plays. Via data from PFR, here is how the Jaguars rank through four weeks.

Player	Average Depth of Target
Chris Conley	12.9
DJ Chark	11.6
Collin Johnson	8.4
Keelan Cole	8.2
Tyler Eifert	8.0
Laviska Shenault Jr.	7.3
James O'Shaughnessy	6.3
Dede Westbrook	4.0
Chris Thompson	2.8
James Robinson	-1.1
Bruce Miller	-1.5

Chirs Conley gets a big boost here because he got just two targets on Sunday and one of those was a 51-yard catch, which inflates his depth of target by a fair amount. Shenault's depth of target of 7.3 is lower than any non-running back on the team but, as mentioned earlier, this is to be expected since the Jaguars get him the ball via short passes more often than not.

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