State of the Jacksonville Jaguars

Most things in life don’t come easy. You must work hard and build success through trial and error. Starting an expansion franchise in the NFL is no different. Teams such as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks struggled to get things on the right path when it came to winning football games when they were first established. However, for some team’s things fall into place without really expecting it. The story of the Jacksonville Jaguars is the perfect example of this.
The late 1990s were great for the Jaguars organization. In only their second season of being a franchise, the Jaguars made it to the AFC Championship, where they fell to the eventual Super Bowl runner-up New England Patriots. Led by rising star quarterback Mark Brunel, and the untouchable receiver duo of Kenan McCardell and Jimmy Smith, the Jacksonville Jaguars had the best record in the AFC in 1999, going 14-2 throughout the regular season, losing only to the new-look Tennessee Titans who had just relocated from Houston Texas. The trend would continue as the Jaguars were set to appear in their first Superbowl. Unfortunately, the team they would face in their second AFC Championship birth would be the team that handed them their only two losses all season.
Following the turn of the century, the Jaguars organization really struggled to find an identity in professional football. The team of the 90s would eventually disappear as the years went on, and the replacement players would not continue that same type of success that happened before. The Jaguars would only make the playoffs three times after 1999, reaching yet another AFC Championship in 2017, where they would fall to Tom Brady’s New England Patriots. Many thought this was the start of something new in Jacksonville, as their defense was considered one of the league’s best.
Unfortunately, this would be the last time the organization would make the playoffs.
Nowadays, the Jacksonville Jaguars are still one of the bottom-tier teams in the NFL.
Run by owner Shad Khan and general manager Trent Balkie, the Jags have consistently been at the top of the draft board and have really struggled to build a winning culture. There have been a few reasons for this. Unfortunately, the organization’s location is one of these factors, as Jacksonville has never been a huge NFL market. The other main reason they have struggled is poor draft selections.
For most fans, the years of struggling seemed to be over when the team acquired a generational talent in Trevor Lawrence. Since the Mark Brunel years, the Jaguars have only sent one quarterback to the NFL’s version of the all-star game, the pro bowl. This player was former East Carolina product David Gerard, who Jacksonville drafted in the fourth round in 2002. Since then, the Jaguars have gone through a carousel of quarterbacks. Nowadas, the Jaguars have shown flashes of having a star quarterback in Lawrence, but the young QB is still developing.
Going back to Trevor, the Jaguars selected him first overall in the 2020 NFL draft with high hopes of becoming a successful franchise once again. The team also drafted his college teammate and highly touted running back Travis Etn to help give Trevor a running back with which he has strong chemistry. Unfortunately, Etn would get injured in the 2020 preseason, and Trevor would have to play his rookie season alone. This would be a rough start for the rookie QB, as Lawrence’s first season as a Jaguar would be one to forget. By the end of the 2021 season, he would throw only 12 touchdowns to a league-tying 17 interceptions.
After the end of a rough season, the casual Jaguar fan might have given up on Trevor; however, those that followed the team throughout 2021 know that there was more. Before the start of Trevor’s rookie year, the Jaguars hired former Ohio State coach Urban Myer to take the reins of the Jags. This coaching hire failed horribly as Urban could not motivate the team and, more than anything, disrespected the organization. Players didn’t like him, and fans for sure had their own issues. Urban would cause many problems, such as kicking the Jag’s placekicker in the leg before he was let go by the Jaguar’s front office.
While 2021 was a challenging year for the Jags, the team ended 2021 with a win over divisional opponent the Indianapolis Colts knocking them out of playoff contention. Many thought the best was yet to come following multiple free agent picks and, ultimately, the hiring of former super bowl winning coach Doug Peterson. Unfortunately, the losing has continued as the team has only accumulated three wins so far this season. Things seem bleak right now, but there is still time, as Trevor is only 23 years old. While the record doesn’t show it, coaching has been better, and Trevor has shown slight improvement overall as a player, so there is no reason to give up entirely on this team.