With the NFL approving a rule that allows teams to interview coaching candidates up to two weeks before the end of the regular season, there is now added motivation for teams to move on from their coaches before “Black Monday” after Week 18.
So far, only two jobs are open: Jacksonville after coach Urban Meyer was fired following numerous off-the-field controversies, and Las Vegas, who fired coach Jon Gruden earlier this season for comments made in various emails that were leaked.
However, there are likely more that will be added to this list by the end of the season. Chicago Bears coach Matt Nagy’s time seems to be coming to an end, Minnesota Vikings coach Mike Zimmer has consistently underachieved (as have the Denver Broncos under Vic Fangio). Carolina’s experiment with Matt Rhule doesn’t seem to be working, and the Texans haven’t had a much better season than Jacksonville with first-year coach David Culley.
All of these jobs could potentially open up, and if they did, where would Jacksonville’s opening rank among available jobs? ESPN’s Bill Barnwell thinks it’s among the best, ranking it third among the seven potential openings.
Pros: Young quarterback, patient ownership, cap space
Cons: Rotted culture, lack of talent….
Coaches will want to come to Jacksonville, of course, because of the presence of Trevor Lawrence. None of the other jobs offer a quarterback anywhere near as promising as the rookie No. 1 overall pick, even if his debut season has been a mess. There has been enough in the way of individual positives, and significant enough coaching malpractice throughout the offense, to suggest that he isn’t the one to blame, though. Coaches typically want to tie their professional futures to a quarterback with All-Pro potential. Lawrence is that guy on this roster.
The problem is that there isn’t much around Lawrence. The first-round picks the Jags have made since landing cornerback Jalen Ramsey in 2016 haven’t been impact contributors. Running back Leonard Fournette was disappointing before being released and joining the Bucs last year. Taven Bryan’s fifth-year option was declined, and the anonymous defensive tackle is likely to leave after 2021. Josh Allen is a solid edge rusher, but cornerback CJ Henderson and pass-rusher K’Lavon Chaisson — both first-round picks in 2020 — have been disasters; Henderson was traded to the Panthers earlier this season, while Chaisson has two sacks in two seasons. Running back Travis Etienne, a teammate of Lawrence’s at Clemson and Jacksonville’s other first-round pick last April, has missed all of his rookie season with a Lisfranc injury.
Etienne will be back for 2022, but James Robinson might not be ready to start next season after tearing an Achilles against the Jets on Sunday. Young players such as Laviska Shenault and Jawaan Taylor have looked worse in their second seasons than they did as rookies. The defense ranks 30th in DVOA and allowed the Jets to run for 273 yards on Sunday. There’s a lot of work to be done here, which has seemingly been the case for most of the past decade. The good news is that the bar for improvement is very, very low.
Anytime there is the opportunity to work with an elite quarterback prospect, it certainly adds to the perceived attractiveness of a job. However, as Barnwell mentions, the Jags have many holes across the field that will need to be addressed before this team sees any significant improvement.
The two teams ranked above the Jags, Denver, and Minnesota, both have more talented roster situations, though they do have some questions at the quarterback spot (the Broncos more so than the Vikings). Still, the Jacksonville job could be intriguing for several coaches in the coming weeks.