Jacksonville may not be competitive for a playoff spot in 2021, but the team should at least be able to avoid the first overall pick again after cleaning house and bringing in a new front office, quarterback, and a number of players at other positions of need.
In the latest power rankings from Sports Illustrated’s Rick Gosselin, the Jaguars come in at No. 25, up seven spots from where they finished the 2020 season.
New QB Trevor Lawrence has won 86 of his 90 starts over the last seven years as a starting quarterback in high school and college. New coach Urban Meyer has won 85.3 percent of his games (187-72) in a 17-year career as a college coach. They arrive at a franchise that has suffered double-digit losses in nine of the last 10 seasons. How quickly does the culture change?
Recent history has suggested that culture changes don’t happen quickly enough for the Jags to expect a major turnaround in 2021. But it’s not unheard of. Andrew Luck, the first overall pick in 2012, inherited an Indianapolis team that went 2-14 and took it to the playoffs in Year 1.
Expecting Lawrence to do the same is probably unfair, but it does seem fair to expect that the team will take a big leap forward in a number of ways. Lawrence should help what was an anemic passing game in 2020, and now that running back James Robinson won’t have to lead the league in carry percentage again after the addition of Travis Etienne, the offense should be fairly balanced.
This season may represent a transition year in Jacksonville, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be some good football played. The question is just how fast Meyer and Co. can catalyze these changes.