Which Jaguars Could Benefit the Most From Doug Marrone and Dave Caldwell Returning to Jaguars in 2020?

Which Jaguars players will see the decision to retain Doug Marrone and Dave Caldwell pay off in their favor?

Last Tuesday, Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan announced the team would retain head coach Doug Marrone and general manager Dave Caldwell in 2020 after a 6-10 season in 2019. The move created a domino effect for an organization with an abundance of pressing decisions ahead of them, especially in regards to the current roster. 

As the 2019 season showed, some players thrive under Marrone and chances are he and his staff even prefer to have them on the field in comparison to the alternatives. 

Marrone grew into more of a players' coach during the last two seasons, becoming closer with his players and establishing open lines of communication, building close relationships with a number of the members of the roster. Meanwhile, Caldwell was the driving force to acquire several Jaguars' players during his tenure as general manager from 2013-2016, the era before Tom Coughlin made the front office decisions in Jacksonville.

As a consequence of these circumstances, it would make sense for a number of Jaguars' players to benefit from Khan's decision to bring Marrone and Caldwell back. Which ones could especially see the move pay off? We have identified a few:

QB Gardner Minshew

This one is obvious because of how the end of the 2019 season played out. With four games in the season remaining, Marrone benched starting quarterback Nick Foles in favor of Minshew, a 2019 sixth-round rookie pick. Marrone said it was due to Minshew's mobility, but Minshew objectively had a better 2019 than Foles did. This likely left quite the impression on Marrone, as well as Caldwell as he needs to decide which quarterback to build around in 2020.

A new regime wouldn't have had any ties to Minshew whatsoever and could cause him to get lost in the shuffle. With Marrone back on the sidelines through, Minshew should get a real chance to start in 2020.

DL Calais Campbell 

Entering the final year of his contract with the Jaguars, defensive lineman Calais Campbell could see added security to his tenure in Jacksonville with the return of Marrone and Caldwell. Since Campbell has a cap figure of $17.5 million in 2020, some have presumed Campbell could be a candidate to be cut or restructured. But with Marrone back in tow, Campbell has one of his biggest supporters calling the shots. 

Marrone gushed about Campbell throughout the 2019 season. Not only impressed by his play, Marrone referenced several times throughout the season how much Campbell means to the entire franchise from a leadership perspective. Reading between the lines, Marrone seems to be keen on Campbell being around the roster. Cutting him could take a lot of convincing, so Marrone's return is a positive for Campbell.

C Brandon Linder

Starting center Brandon Linder played in 16 games for the first time in his six-year career in 2019. He dealt with some penalty issues, but he did a lot of work to shed the injury-prone label he had been slapped with for a number of years. As a result of the season, Linder clearly earned the respect of Marrone.

"He’s probably one of the brighter sports of the team in a bad situation [and] not playing well, but he’s actually been playing well," Marrone said before Week 15's game. "Last year he’s always been nicked up and hurt, but he’s been pretty consistent this year and I think he’s done a really good job of managing himself and playing well.”

Caldwell is also the man who drafted Linder in the third round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He has seen Linder through every step of his career and has been a big part of Linder earning a second contract with the team. A player some have thought could be a potential cut in 2020 is likely safe with Marrone and Caldwell returning. 

DE Yannick Ngakoue

One thing is clear: some team is going to pay Yannick Ngakoue a lot of money this offseason. A monster deal awaits him, regardless of if its from Caldwell and the Jaguars or one of the other 31 teams. 

And thanks to the return of Caldwell and Marrone, each of whom has been public in their appreciation and admiration of Ngakoue and his impact on the team, Ngakoue could even see his price be jacked up in negotiations. Caldwell said last week the team's "No. 1 priority" would be to resign Ngakoue, an impending free agent. Because of this, Jacksonville could get aggressive in its offer to Ngakoue and as a result, this could force other teams to raise their price as well. Whether Ngakoue plays in Jacksonville or elsewhere in 2020, Caldwell and Marrone returning is good news for him.