Air it Out: How Has the Jaguars' Offense Distributed the Ball Through 8 Games?

The 2020 season is now 50% over. At 1-7, the Jaguars have just eight games left to attempt to salvage anything from their mostly miserable season. And while they do so, we will continue to see patterns begin to develop on both sides of the ball -- especially on offense.

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 eight weeks.

Targets

According to PFR, the Jaguars have distributed 291 targets to their skill players through the first 7 games. Here is how those targets have been divided. It is important to note that DJ Chark has played seven games. We will also list target market share, which shows the percentage of targets a player has gotten.

Player	Targets	Target Market Share
DJ Chark	53	18.21%
Keelan Cole	42	14.43%
Laviska Shenault	39	13.40%
James Robinson	34	11.68%
Chris Conley	34	11.68%
Tyler Eifert	28	9.62%
Chris Thompson	23	7.90%
James O'Shaughnessy	20	6.87%
Collin Johnson	13	4.47%
Bruce Miller	2	0.69%
Tyler Davis	2	0.69%
Dede Westbrook	1	0.34%

This week there is no change at all in the order of which the Jaguars' skill players rank in terms of targets. With that said, we do see DJ Chark's target share jump up several percentage points compared to the week before. Considering Chark saw 12 targets -- his second-highest total of the season -- this isn't surprising. He now has 33 targets over the last three games, showing just how much of the offense has run through him.

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 (1,166) and air yard percentage? We use PFR data to find the answer.

Player	Air Yards	Air Yard %
DJ Chark	343	29.42%
Keelan Cole	278	23.84%
Chris Conley	166	14.24%
Laviska Shenault	142	12.18%
James O'Shaughnessy	108	9.26%
Tyler Eifert	72	6.17%
Collin Johnson	53	4.55%
Chris Thompson	39	3.34%
Dede Westbrook	4	0.34%
Tyler Davis	0	N/A.
Bruce Miller	-1	N/A.
James Robinson	-30	N/A,

DJ Chark was trailing Keelan Cole by 23 yards in this category entering the week. His giant performance in Week 9, however, launched him toward the No. 1 air yards spot in 2020, in large part due to the 73-yard touchdown he caught from Jake Luton. Otherwise, there are no real surprises or changes here compared to the week before.

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	255	9.4
Laviska Shenault	181	6.0
Chris Conley	110	5.0
Chris Thompson	107	5.4
Keelan Cole	102	3.5
DJ Chark	94	2.8
Tyler Eifert	69	4.6
James O'Shaughnessy	48	3.0
Collin Johnson	16	2.3
Bruce Miller	3	3.0
Dede Westbrook	0	0
Tyler Davis	0	0

The Chris duo -- Chris Thompson and Chris Conley -- leaped Keelan Cole in total yards after catch this week. The Jaguars saw each player pick up significant gains after the catch against Houston, making it little surprise they got a bump over Cole, who caught only one pass for six yards. Chark picked over twice his season-long total of yards after the catch in Week 9, getting 52 yards after the catch vs. Houston after having just 42 combined yards after the catch in the previous six games.

First Downs/First Down %

Another self-explanatory one, this will keep track of first downs recorded by each skill player and which percentage of the team's first downs that they hold. According to PFR, the Jaguars have recorded 108 first downs through the air.

Player	First Downs	First Down %
DJ Chark	22	20.37%
Laviska Shenault	19	17.59%
Keelan Cole	18	16.67%
Chris Conley	14	12.96%
James Robinson	10	9.26%
Tyler Eifert	8	7.41%
James O'Shaughnessy	6	5.56
Chris Thompson	5	4.63%
Collin Johnson	5	4.63%
Bruce Miller	1	0.93%
Dede Westbrook	0	0%
Tyler Davis	0	0%

When the Jaguars need a first down, they have typically gone to either Laviska Shenault or DJ Chark. Shenault played just 10 snaps against Houston, so Chark picked up the slack and caught four first downs to put himself in the top role. Chris Conley also caught 3 after entering the week with 11 first downs through seven games.

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
James Robinson	113.8
Keelan Cole	111.2
Laviska Shenault	109.2
Chris Thompson	107.6
DJ Chark	105.6
Chris Conley	87.4
Dede Westbrook	83.3
James O'Shaughnessy	78.3
Tyler Eifert	64.7
Collin Johnson	62.7
Bruce Miller	56.2
Tyler Davis	39.6

James O'Shaughnessy had a passer rating of 100.7 when targeted entering Week 9, but this went down a good bit after Jake Luton threw an interception when targeting O'Shaughnessy on Sunday. It wasn't O'Shaughnessy's fault in any form or fashion, but his number takes a fall regardless.

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 seven weeks.

Player	Average Depth of Target
DJ Chark	13.5
Tyler Davis	13.5
Chris Conley	11.6
Keelan Cole	11.5
Collin Johnson	8.4
James O'Shaughnessy	7.4
Tyler Eifert	7.4
Laviska Shenault	5.6
Dede Westbrook	4.0
Chris Thompson	2.8
James Robinson	-1.2
Bruce Miller	-1.5

DJ Chark takes his place back at the top of the average depth of target list, mostly because of the deep shot the Jaguars called for him at the start of the game and his multiple 15+ yard gains. Chris Conley's fell by over two yards, but that was because the Jaguars targeted him more and used him in a more traditional way with Laviska Shenault out.

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