The Jaguars have a lot to prove to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.
Jacksonville secured the No. 20 spot in Florio’s pre-training camp NFL power rankings, released on Monday. The Jaguars stood behind AFC South rivals Houston (No. 10) and Indianapolis (No. 18) on the list, and were the 11th-ranked AFC squad.
Florio made clear that these power rankings do not represent how he believes each team will perform in 2024, rather they reflect where each team stands following the 2023 season.
“Will that stop people from interpreting these ranking[s] as a prediction of how teams will finish the 2024 season? Nope,” he wrote.
He summed up Jacksonville’s bottom-half placement by referencing the team’s 1-5 slide over its final six games last season, after beginning the year 8-3.
“[The Jaguars] fell apart down the stretch last year,” Florio analyzed. “They need to prove that it was a fluke.”
The Jaguars would probably make that argument.
Jacksonville’s starting quarterback, Trevor Lawrence, endured a high-ankle sprain, a concussion and a sprain in his throwing shoulder between Weeks 13-16 last season. He missed one game but otherwise played through his multiple injuries.
The same couldn’t be said for his leading receiver, Christian Kirk, who suffered a season-ending groin injury in Week 13, when the losing stretch began.
Jacksonville handed Lawrence and star edge rusher Josh Allen the two biggest contracts in team history this offseason and signed eight free agents between March and April, combining to account for $388 million in total guarantees across the terms of those deals and other re-signings.
Power-ranking Jacksonville No. 20 immediately following 2023 would have made plenty of sense considering the team’s collapse.
But after an active offseason of retaining and adding talent, it’s hard to imagine the Jaguars would be happy with finishing outside of the playoff picture in 2024, as they would if Florio’s list was a projection.
Find Florio’s full pre-camp power rankings below.
All complaints are welcome and expected. pic.twitter.com/U1MBtb73bE
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) June 24, 2024