This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/nfl by /u/GeckoRoamin on 2024-03-06 17:09:26.
Division: AFC South (2nd)
Record: 9-8-0 (4-2-0 division)
Playoffs: Nope
Introduction: The Jacksonville Jaguars of late November were a team in mathematical position to contend for the No. 1 overall seed.
The Jacksonville Jaguars of December and January beefed it bad enough to miss the playoffs entirely.
The Jags had a bit of a rough start in facing the “oh FFS they’re another dynasty” Kansas City Chiefs for their first home game of 2023, followed by a loss to Houston that’s a bit less surprising in hindsight. They followed it up with five straight wins before a bad 34-3 loss to white-hot San Francisco, but two divisional wins over Tennessee and Houston had many fans feeling back on track at 8-3.
Then the damn wheels fell off. A string of four straight losses started with a national overtime loss to Cincinnati in which Trevor Lawrence suffered a high ankle sprain and never looked the same after, amassing additional injuries along the way as he started up to Week 17 vs. Carolina. The Jags lost every game leading up to Carolina, making the final Week 18 rematch vs. Tennessee a win-or-go-home game. Just as we had done to them the year before, the Titans played spoiler, knocking Jacksonville out of the playoffs.
A couple key pieces are in place for the Jaguars in 2024: Josh Allen received the franchise tag, and a new defensive coaching staff is in place under DC Ryan Nielsen.
2023 Offseason (Free Agency, Draft) (by InexorableWaffle)
Free Agency:
- Key Signings – Brandon McManus (K), D’Ernest Johnson (RB)
- Key Losses – Jawaan Taylor (OT), Arden Key (Edge)
Overall, 2023 Free Agency was an atypically quiet one for the Jags. We had few key outgoing players, and signed even fewer incoming ones. There isn’t overly much to say about the names here because there just…aren’t many names at all.
Draft:
- Anton Harrison, OT, 1.27
- Brenton Strange, TE, 2.61
- Tank Bigsby, RB, 3.88
- Ventrell Miller, LB, 4.121
- Tyler Lacy, DE, 4.130
- Yasir Abdullah, LB, 5.136
- Antonio Johnson, S, 5.160
- Parker Washington, WR, 6.185
- Christian Braswell, CB, 6.202
- Erick Hallett, S, 6.208
- Cooper Hodges, OT, 7.226
- Raymond Vohasek, DT, 7.227
- Derek Parish, DE, 7.240
For as extensive a list as this is, our 2023 draft class had a rather underwhelming first year in the league. Anton Harrison had a good rookie season as the Jags’ starting RT, especially as a pass protector (even if his run blocking is a work in progress), and Antonio Harrison looked like a steal in his limited playing time, netting two interceptions and a sack in 190 snaps. Parker Washington also showed promise late in the season out in the slot when Christian Kirk was injured. Outside of that trio, though, there were few bright spots this past season. Brenton Strange ended the season with just 35 yards on 9 total targets, and had more than his fair share of mishaps and penalties during his playing time. Tank Bigsby, meanwhile, struggled mightily as the primary back to Etienne, and saw his role diminish over the course of the season to D’Ernest Johnson despite the latter not being exactly fantastic in his own right. None of the other players on this list played enough to make a notable impression, as most of them either never saw the field at all, or were only out on special teams and/or as deep rotational players.
All in all, not an exceptional start, and definitely not the production you’d want from a draft where the team had 13 draft picks in total. That said, it’s not uncommon for players to struggle in their rookie season and turn it around in their sophomore season, so there remains hope for the draft class to turn it around.
Season Review
| Week | Result | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | W | JAX 31 @ IND 21 |
| 2 | L | JAX 9 vs. KC 17 |
| 3 | L | JAX 17 vs. HOU 37 |
| 4 | W | JAX 23 vs. ATL 7 (London) |
| 5 | W | JAX 25 vs. BUF 20 (London) |
| 6 | W | JAX 37 vs. IND 20 |
| 7 | W | JAX 31 @ NO 24 |
| 8 | W | JAX 20 @ PIT 10 |
| 9 | Bye | Bye |
| 10 | L | JAX 3 vs. SF 34 |
| 11 | W | JAX 34 @ TEN 14 |
| 12 | W | JAX 24 @ HOU 21 |
| 13 | L | JAX 31 vs. CIN 34 (OT) (SNF) |
| 14 | L | JAX 27 @ CLE 31 |
| 15 | L | JAX 7 vs. BAL 23 (MNF) |
| 16 | L | JAX 12 @ TB 30 |
| 17 | W | JAX 26 vs. CAR 0 |
| 18 | L | JAX 20 @ TEN 28 |
Link to season review
High Points and Low Points (by GeckoRoamin)
While this could pretty generally be broken down into “pre-December” and “December and January”, here are a few specific highs and lows…
High Points
- The Jaguars snap their Indianapolis losing streak and see Calvin Ridley in action in a 31-21 win over the Colts to start the season.
- Jacksonville defeats Buffalo 25-20 in London, showing they can win over a strong AFC team. The Jaguars get a viral fan in London, too. (Usually, we only go viral for our quarterbacks’ appearances or our mascot’s post-win stripping.)
- The Jags defeat the Texans 24-21, earning an 8-3 record, a chance to theoretically be the Number 1 seed in the AFC, and a reputation as a potential contender.
(Quick aside here: You’ll notice that, when it comes to our highlights, none of them actually came at home. That’s because 9-8 Jacksonville won only three games in Duval this season.)
Low Points
- The Jaguars end a 5-game winning streak in an “embarrassing” 34-3 loss to San Francisco that saw Trevor Lawrence turn the ball over 3 times and get sacked 5 times.
- The cursed Cincinnati Bengals game saw not just an overtime loss on national television for Jacksonville but also injuries to Trevor Lawrence and Christian Kirk. Lawrence played through what turned out to be a high ankle sprain but never looked the same this season, while Kirk’s injury required a core muscle surgery that sidelined him for the rest of the season.
- December 2023 and January 2024, just in general.
- Trevor Lawrence was stopped just inches short of what could have been a game-tying drive against Tennessee in Week 18. Instead, the Jags failed to score points on that and a subsequent drive, losing the game 28-20 and getting knocked out of the playoffs by a division rival.
Team Statistics (by GeckoRoamin)
Team statistics (regular season)
| Category | Value | Ranking |
|---|---|---|
| Total Offense | ||
| Avg. PPG | 22.2 | T-14 |
| Total Yards Per Game | 339.5 | 12 |
| Passing Yards Per Game | 242.7 | 9 |
| Rushing Yards Per Game | 96.8 | 23 |
| Total Defense | ||
| Points Allowed | 371 | 17 |
| Yards Allowed | 3828 | 22 |
| Yards Allowed Per Game | 342.8 | 19 |
| Special Teams | ||
| FG% | 81.1% | T-25 |
| XP% | 100% (35) | T-1 |
| % Punts Within 20 | 47.5 | 3 |
| Team Penalties | 83 | 4 |
| Turnovers | 30 | 28 |
| Takeaways | 17 | 11 |
Passing Statistics (regular season)
| Passing Yards | Attempts | Completions | YPG | TDs | INTs | Sacks | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T. Lawrence (16 games) | 4,016 | 564 | 370 | 251 | 21 | 14 | 35 | 88.5 |
| C.J. Beathard | 349 | 53 | 40 | 49.9 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 98.7 |
Rushing Statistics (regular season) (min. 100 yards)
| Rushing Yards | Attempts | YPC | YPG | TDs | Fumbles (Lost) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T. Etienne Jr. | 1,008 | 267 | 3.8 | 59.3 | 11 | 0 (0) |
| T. Lawrence (16 games) | 339 | 70 | 4.8 | 21.2 | 4 | 5 (4) |
| T. Bigsby | 132 | 50 | 2.6 | 7.8 | 2 | 1 (1) |
| D. Johnson | 108 | 41 | 2.6 | 6.4 | 0 | 0 (0) |
Receiving Statistics (regular season) (top 5 in yardage)
| Receiving Yards | Receptions | Targets | YPG | TDs | Fumbles (Lost) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C. Ridley | 1,016 | 76 | 136 | 59.8 | 8 | 1 (0) |
| E. Engram | 963 | 114 | 143 | 56.6 | 4 | 3 (2) |
| C. Kirk (12 games) | 787 | 57 | 85 | 65.6 | 3 | 2 (2) |
| T. Etienne Jr. | 476 | 58 | 73 | 28.0 | 1 | 0 (0) |
| Z. Jones (9 games) | 321 | 34 | 64 | 35.7 | 2 | 0 (0) |
Coaching Staff Review (by GeckoRoamin)
Press Taylor, OC
- A man that many in the fanbase want gone appears to be here to stay. Press Taylor took over full-time play calling duties for the entirety of the 2023 season and regressed in categories that include “yards per play, rushing, scoring, third down, red-zone efficiency and DVOA”. Still, Pederson largely placed the blame on a lack of offensive execution by players, including Lawrence’s turnovers, saying, "It’s not play calling, it’s not the scheme or the design of plays, it’s just having the urgency of ‘we have to protect the football better.'"
- Despite a year that saw offensive struggles, particularly when it comes to getting into the end zone, the Jaguars made only two offensive staff changes: parting ways with RB coach Bernie Parmalee and assistant OL coach Todd Washington.
Mike Caldwell, DC
- Despite sho…
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