The Jaguars earned the No. 15 spot on ESPN’s NFL projected starting lineup rankings entering the 2024 season, compiled by analysts Mike Clay, Aaron Schatz and Seth Walder and released on Tuesday.
Clay predicted 12-player starting lineups for every NFL team as part of the exercise, accounting for different personnel sets on each side of the ball. Analyzing rosters with talent, age and production in mind, the trio of analysts graded the Jaguars based on the following groupings:
Offense: QB Trevor Lawrence, RB Travis Etienne Jr., WR Christian Kirk, WR Gabe Davis, WR Brian Thomas Jr., TE Evan Engram, TE Luke Farrell, LT Cam Robinson, LG Ezra Cleveland, C Mitch Morse, RG Brandon Scherff, RT Anton Harrison
Defense: DT Arik Armstead, DT Roy Roberston-Harris, DT Adam Gotsis, EDGE Josh Allen, EDGE Travon Walker, LB Foyesade Oluokun, LB Devin Lloyd, CB Tyson Campbell, CB Ronald Darby, CB Jarrian Jones, S Darnell Savage, S Andre Cisco
Jaguars Wire would project DaVon Hamilton to earn a starting spot at defensive tackle over Adam Gotsis, Brenton Strange to compete with Miller for No. 2 tight end duties and Antonio Johnson to vie for a first-team role at safety, with Savage likely starting at nickel cornerback and the rookie Jones as his backup.
Otherwise, ESPN’s lineup largely reflects consensus predictions.
Breaking down Jacksonville’s biggest strengths and weaknesses, Clay highlighted its starting inside linebacker tandem, Foyesade Oluokun and Devin Lloyd, and raised concern about the Jaguars’ offensive tackle duo, particularly left tackle Cam Robinson.
Oluokun and Lloyd have started in the middle of Jacksonville’s defense since joining the team in 2022, the former as a free-agent signee and the latter as a first-round draft pick. They’ve combined to record 599 total tackles.
Robinson has been Jacksonville’s starting left tackle when available since his second-round selection by the club in 2017. However, injuries and a suspension have kept Robinson out of 24 games over the last three seasons, to pair with inconsistent performance when he’s played.
Biggest strength: Off-ball linebacker. Don’t overlook an underrated Jaguars’ defense with plenty of star power. Foyesade Oluokun is one of those stars, having played 1,000-plus snaps and recorded 170-plus tackles in each of the past three seasons. [Oluokun] has 56 more tackles than any other player and trails only Quandre Diggs in snaps during that span. Running mate Devin Lloyd — a 2022 first-round pick — showed improvement last season and now has 242 tackles in two seasons (20th in the league).
Biggest weakness: Offensive tackle. Same as last year, the offensive line is a concern, and that’s especially the case at tackle. LT Cam Robinson’s struggles have continued, and he sits dead last among tackles in run block win rate over the past two seasons. RT Anton Harrison (2023 first-round pick) is a candidate for a step forward in his second season, though he had his fair share of struggles as a rookie (third-worst OT in pass block win rate).
Walder, meanwhile, called third-year Jaguars edge rusher Travon Walker the team’s X-factor player entering the season, wondering if he can build upon his 10-sack sophomore campaign with an even bigger year in 2024.
ESPN isn’t the only outlet to call Jacksonville’s 2022 No. 1 overall draft pick the Jaguars’ X-factor this offseason.
X factor for 2024: Edge rusher Travon Walker. It took time but Walker started to show up last season, posting a 15% pass rush win rate (just shy of average) at edge and 10 sacks. Does the former first-round pick have another gear in him? If so, he and Josh Allen could make quite a tandem, especially with Arik Armstead now on the defensive line, too.
Sticking with the edge rush, Schatz labeled linebacker Yasir Abdullah as a “non-starter to watch” as Jacksonville hopes to identify playable depth behind Allen and Walker. One of the Jaguars’ fifth-round picks a year ago, Abdullah compiled 19.5 sacks in his final two college seasons but made only one tackle in five games during his rookie year.
Jacksonville ranked No. 2 among AFC South teams on ESPN’s list, behind No. 8 Houston and in front of No. 21 Indianapolis and No. 25 Tennessee.
Do you agree with ESPN’s thoughts about Jacksonville’s projected starting lineup? Let us know your thoughts via social media at JaguarsWire on Facebook and @TheJaguarsWire on X (formerly known as Twitter).
