5 Pressing Questions Facing the Jaguars Before Training Camp

As of today, NFL teams are still planning to commence training camp in the coming weeks to prepare for the upcoming 2020 season, meaning football is just around the corner in theory. And with football comes questions, especially for a young team like the Jacksonville Jaguars.

From a new starting quarterback to a new play-caller to changes throughout the entire roster, the question marks surrounding the Jaguars are plentiful ahead of Week 1.

But with a team with an abundance of unknowns, which questions are the absolute most pressing before football kicks off? We try to determine the answers below, while putting them in order of importance.

No. 5: Can the offensive line make an improvement from last year's results?

Jacksonville will return all six of the offensive linemen who started games for the team last season, though they will obviously need the unit to take a leap forward next season after last year's disastrous results in terms of scoring on the ground (three rushing touchdowns all season).

Center Brandon Linder is coming off one of his best seasons, while right tackle Jawaan Taylor was one of the league's best rookie offensive linemen despite penalty issues. The other three spots will need to see significant improvement, however. Andrew Norwell has been a solid, albeit unspectacular, left guard for Jacksonville, but he has never lived up to the massive deal the team paid him in 2018. Left tackle Cam Robinson is entering a contract year after a shaky 2019 in which he was recovering from a 2018 ACL injury, while right guard A.J. Cann is a long-time starter but inconsistent performer.

Football Outsiders' offensive line ratings ranked Jacksonville 27th in adjusted line yards with 3.88 and 16th in the NFL with adjusted sack rate at 7.0%, meaning the Jaguars' offensive line failed to stand out in any true area last season. If the Jaguars are going to take the next step on offense, they will need the offensive line to prove it can be more consistent on a week-to-week basis.

No. 4: How quickly can Jay Gruden turn around the Jaguars' offense?

By all measures possible, the Jaguars' offense was a disappointing unit last year. It didn't help the team had a revolving door at quarterback and tight end, but offensive coordinator John DeFilippo struggled to consistently lift the Jaguars to success in critical situations. Now taking over last year's 26th-ranked scoring offense will be former Washington Football Team head coach and Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Jay Gruden.

With a win-now mandate facing the team in 2020, it will be imperative for the Jaguars and Gruden to get off to a fast start in terms of both implementing and executing his scheme. He has long been known as one of the league's best offensive minds, but he will have his work cut out for him due to a virtual offseason and the uncertainty surrounding training camp.

So while the Jaguars have made some improvements to the offensive roster this season, the key to the unit will be how quickly Gruden can mesh with Gardner Minshew II and help elevate the offense via his scheme.

No. 3: Can the revamped defense make substantial improvements?

Every level of Jacksonville's defense has gotten a makeover this season. The defensive line will have a host of new faces with free agent additions Rodney Gunter, Al Woods, Cassius Marsh and Aaron Lynch, while Joe Schobert will be the new man in the middle of the defense. The secondary, meanwhile, will be walking into a season without A.J. Bouye and Jalen Ramsey for the first time in several years.

Add in rookie additions like CJ Henderson, K'Lavon Chaisson, Josiah Scott, DaVon Hamilton, Daniel Thomas and Shaquille Quarterman, and it is hard to say the Jaguars haven't made significant investments into the defense. But can it pay off in what is a pivotal year for defensive coordinator Todd Wash?

A year after finishing 21st in points allowed, 24th in yards allowed, and 31st in both rushing touchdowns allowed and rushing yards allowed per carry, the Jaguars have opted to make tweaks to both Wash's personnel and scheme. Wash led an elite unit in 2017, though it was a unit largely driven by talent, and the defense has regressed each year since. Now, the question is if those tweaks can reverse the trend.

No. 2: What resolution will there be for the Jaguars and Yannick Ngakoue?

There so far still appears to be zero eventual resolution to what has been the hot-button topic for the Jaguars all offseason: who will back down first, Yannick Ngakoue or the Jaguars?

Ngakoue has been publicly pushing for an exit out of Jacksonville since March, going as far as to state he would not sign a long-term contract with the team. He has since been franchise tagged, but he is the only franchise tagged player this offseason who has yet to sign his tender. He has made public requests for a trade but so far, it appears the Jaguars have dug in and don't appear interesting in trading the 25-year-old pass-rusher for anything but a lucrative haul.

It remains to be seen whether Ngakoue will report to the Jaguars for training camp, or if the Jaguars will be willing to grant his request for a trade. But considering he is one of the best players on the entire team, his presence, or lack thereof, is going to be one of the burning questions surrounding the team until the season kicks off. 37.5 sacks and 14 forced fumbles over four seasons isn't something that can be easily replaced right away, even with the high hopes for Chaisson.

No. 1: Can Gardner Minshew II be the guy?

The greatest question facing the Jaguars entering this year's training camp and season is one that the franchise has asked itself for countless years now: do they have a quarterback?

After trading Nick Foles to the Chicago Bears for a 2020 fourth-round pick, Minshew was given to go-ahead to be the clear No. 1 for the Jaguars entering this season. Can he be the franchise quarterback of the future, though? That is what the Jaguars are going to try to find out over the course of this next season, and it is the question that is going to define the Jaguars' in the short-term, and potentially the long-term as well.

Minshew's performance in 2019 was arguably the best of any rookie quarterback, and it was unquestionably the best season any Jaguars rookie quarterback has ever had. In 12 starts (14 appearances) Minshew compiled a 6-6 record completed over 60% of his passes for 3,271 passing yards, 21 passing touchdowns, and six interceptions to go along with 67 carries for 344 rushing yards. He also won Rookie of the Week seven times in 2019, making him the only rookie to win it more than once last year. His rookie year was a rousing success, no matter if he was a sixth-round or a first-round pick. Can he replicate the success moving forward is the major question facing the Jaguars today, and moving forward.