The Jacksonville Jaguars’ offseason started interestingly as the team was without a head coach for the second consecutive season. Of course, that was because Urban Meyer was fired in December before the season could end, as he was a key factor in the most dysfunctional season in Jags history.
Although it took them way longer than it should’ve to name a head coach, the Jags eventually ended up with a good candidate in Doug Pederson. His hiring was a significant one as he’s known for his ability to coach young quarterbacks, which could lead to Trevor Lawrence bouncing back from a tough rookie season.
It’s for this very reason that many football fans will be keeping an eye on the Jags this season as they could surprise some if they have a good offseason. NFL Network’s Bucky Brooks, who also works for the Jags, seems to agree with those sentiments, and as a result, he listed the Jags as one of the five most interesting teams of the offseason.
After watching the Jaguars completely implode during Urban Meyer’s brief stint as head coach, everyone’s waiting to see how a former Super Bowl champion can rejuvenate a downtrodden franchise with a quarterback who was universally hailed as a generational talent during last year’s pre-draft process.
Doug Pederson is a proven quarterback whisperer, based on his success with Carson Wentz and Nick Foles in Philadelphia — not to mention some early tutelage of Jalen Hurts. Consequently, Trevor Lawrence could make a significant jump in his second pro season. Pederson has shown a willingness to build a system around his QB’s strengths, and that adaptability could help the Jaguars climb back to respectability if the team can add some more pieces around the young signal-caller.
The duo of Pederson and Lawrence alone is a lot to get excited about, especially when considering the coaching support he’s put around Lawrence in terms of assistants. The second-year quarterback will have Mike McCoy as his quarterbacks coach, Jim Bob Cooter as his passing game coordinator, and Press Taylor, who was Pederson’s assistant in Philadelphia, as an offensive coordinator.
However, Pederson, his staff, and Lawrence are just a few pieces to the puzzle. A lot will hinge on the talent acquisition side of things, which could mostly involve general manager Trent Baalke, who hasn’t exactly been able to help many of the coaches he’s worked with.
Last season Baalke took an approach of signing value free agents and it didn’t help the team improve all that much. However, after looking back on 2021, maybe he will be open to switching things up by targeting more B+ to A tier free agents. Only time will tell in terms of an answer, but fans may not have to wait long for rumblings with the combine coming up next season.
