There wasn’t much to be positive about in Jacksonville’s 23-13 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday. Though the defense showed some signs of improvement and quarterback Trevor Lawrence got off to a hot start, inconsistency plagued the team all day, and it couldn’t mount much of a second-half challenge.
The Jaguars have hardly had any players stand out as elite in the first two games, but with that being said, several guys have played very well in spite of the team’s struggles.
According to Pro Football Focus, the highest-graded Jags players in Week 2 were defensive end Dawuane Smoot (79.0), defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton (75.4), safety Andrew Wingard (75.0), defensive end Adam Gotsis (70.0) and defensive lineman Taven Bryan (68.2).
Going by PFF’s scale, every player with a grade above 70 is in the “above average” range, with Smoot’s grade pushing the “high quality” range. Bryan is the only one in the top five who falls below 70 and into the “average” range. While it’s good to see Bryan as one of the top performers, this may be an indictment of the rest of the roster more than anything else.
Tight end James O’Shaughnessy graded at 78.6, the second-highest behind Smoot, but he only played on three offensive snaps due to an injury, so it wasn’t a very large sample size to work with.
There are certainly some bright spots on this roster, but as long as its best players are grading in the mid-high 70s, it’s going to be difficult to win games for the Jaguars.