3 Jaguars to watch on offense vs. Falcons

The Jags will need their offense to produce a lot of points and DJ Chark may be one of the players who can do that for them.

With the Jacksonville Jaguars enduring a crazy week at their facility, they must now turn their attention to the Atlanta Falcons, who will come into Sunday’s game on a two-game win streak.

The Jags will come into Sunday with a win of their own and winning another game will at least give them more wins than last season. To make that streak continue, they will need their offense to have a solid game and put up a lot of points.

Here are some offensive players who could lead them to a victory if they step up to the plate and ball out:

QB Gardner Minshew II

To put it simply, Gardner Minshew II is currently playing to show whoever is running the team next year that he should be allowed to start next season. He was renamed the starter at quarterback two weeks ago and has put together one forgettable performance (against the Los Angeles Chargers), and an impressive one (against the Oakland Raiders). That said, he’ll need to build on last Sunday’s game on the West Coast against the Raiders instead of looking like he did the week before.

In a very hostile environment that was watching their beloved Raiders for one last home game, Minshew was able to drive the Jags down the field and score with roughly 30 seconds left in the game with a connection to Chris Conley. That touchdown pass put the Jags up for the first time in the whole game and they were able to hold off Oakland to close the game.

This week, the Jags will be up against a high powered passing game that should score a lot, and if Minshew can match wits with Matt Ryan, that would likely give the Jags’ front office a big nod of confidence in him as the 2020 starter.

WR DJ Chark Jr.

DJ Chark is expected to make his return from injury Sunday and he couldn’t have chosen a better time with the Falcons having the 23rd ranked passing defense in football (allowing an average of 253.7 points a game). They also are 25th in points allowed allowing an average of 26.1 points per game. When factoring in both issues for the Falcons and the Jags’ inability to run the ball, this clearly indicates that the Jags will likely look to pass the ball over 25 times, but they also will need to score through the air.

With Chark being Minshew’s top target, it wouldn’t be a shocker to see him receive a majority of Sunday’s targets. He’ll especially be up for the challenge when considering he’s 44 yards away from the 1000-yard mark, which I’d suspect he’d hit with ease Sunday against a Falcons secondary that is without starters like safety Keanu Neal and corner Desmond Trufant.

RB Leonard Fournette (in the passing game)

Both Leonard Fournette and the offensive line have been out of sync when it comes to the run game, and I believe the Jags’ struggles to rush the ball falls on both parties. They without a doubt will need to have a successful day on the ground to slow down the Falcons’ offense, but the problem is I don’t think they will be able to do so.

The next best way to utilize Fournette would be in the passing game at that point. He had a few clutch receptions against the Raiders and helped out Minshew tremendously in the short passing game, and with the Falcons’ defensive scheme being one that emphasizes players coming up to make tackles, he’ll have ample opportunities to make some highlight plays.