Thirty years of Jacksonville football in 2024 had hope for the Jaguars. They had a 9-8 record in 2023 but failed to advance to the playoffs. They started 8-3, but losing five of their last six games was mortifying as the Jags finished second in the AFC South. Now, all eyes are on the 1st overall pick from 2021, the former Clemson Tiger, Trevor Lawrence. After a consistent last two seasons from 2022-2023, the Jaguars would pull a move that shows that they’re invested in Lawrence—a contract extension to his rookie deal. A 5-year, $275M deal would last until 2030, including over $74M in his last two years. It’s a risky move, especially for a guy who hasn’t played like a first-overall pick yet. But the Jaguars feel like they have something because the contract with Nick Foles back in 2019 was the greatest in the history of sarcasm.
2024 Offseason:
Jacksonville’s signings were high; they wanted to strike while the iron was lukewarm. They signed names like center Mitch Morse, safety Darnell Savage, receiver Gabe Davis, cornerback Ronald Darby, and defensive lineman Arik Armstead. But departures also would hurt the Jags as they lost receiver Jamal Agnew, cornerbacks Darious Williams and Tre Herndon, safety Rayshawn Jenkins, kicker Brandon McManus, and finally, receiver Calvin Ridley, and traded for quarterback Mac Jones. But the Jags would extend/resign ten players, names like Josh Hines-Allen, Tyson Campbell, Erza Cleveland, and Trevor Lawrence.
In the offseason, the Jaguars spent $147.4M in free agency (9th highest in the league), $553.9M in contract extensions (the highest in the league), $54.8M in draft picks (15th highest), and $36.8M in undrafted players signed (20th highest). The Jaguars spent the most money in the offseason, totaling $793.1M.
The Draft:
After trading the 17th overall pick they possessed to Minnesota for first and fifth-round selections for 2024 and third and fourth-round picks in 2025, the Jaguars selected from the 23rd overall pick. The Jaguars selected a receiver out of LSU. A 6’3, 209lb, 4.33 40-yard dasher, Brian Thomas Jr. Including Thomas, the Jags selected eight other guys in the draft and 13 undrafted free agents. Of these 22 players, only three played 200+ snaps—the previously mentioned Thomas Jr., cornerback Jarrian Jones (FSU, 3rd RD), and defensive tackle Maason Smith (LSU, 2nd RD).
2024 Rookie Stats-
Brian Thomas Jr. – 822 snaps, 87 rec, 1282 receiving yards, 10 receiving TDs
Jarrian Jones – 699 snaps, 40 total tackles, 2 sacks, 1 int
Maason Smith – 384 snaps, 17 total tackles, 3 sacks
Expectations:
A lot of eyes will be on the Jaguars organization in 2024. In 2022, Trevor Lawrence had his best season, and the Jaguars team returned from a 4-8 record, finished 9-8, and made the playoffs. After making a 27-point comeback against the Chargers in the wild-card game, the Jags won their first playoff game since 2017. In 2023, the Jags would go 9-8 again but fail to make the playoffs, and Trevor Lawrence regressed stat-wise. So now, the fans have concerns for Lawrence. Can he lead his offense to another playoff berth, or will his inconsistencies haunt him and the organization? At +5000 odds to win the Super Bowl (tied at 12th overall) and expected at an over-under win record of 8.5 (tied 6th overall), the Jags have expectations on them, and a poor season would put the organization in a tough spot. From all the money they spent in the offseason to how much they invested in their players, Jaguars need a solid season.
2024 Season:
The season comprises two matchups against each AFC South opponent and games against the AFC East, NFC North, Raiders, Eagles, and Browns. The Jag’s strength of schedule goes to 15th overall, a middle-of-the-pack schedule. With a do-or-die season in Jacksonville, is it the Jag’s time to take over the AFC South? Or will they have their worst season since 2021? Guess which one happened.
Team Offensive Stats-
5206 total offensive yards, 306.2 yards per game – 25th overall
3477 total passing yards, 204.5 YPG – 24th overall
1729 total rushing yards, 101.7 YPG – 26th overall
320 total points scored – 18.8 points per game – 26th overall
Many bad teams have one part of the offense they do well on and stick with it because it’s the only thing that works for them. This team, however, has NOTHING going for it—bottom EIGHT of EVERY category above. Not to mention the 24 total turnovers (tied for 5th highest), 37.3% of third downs converted (22nd overall), and 53.8% of fourth downs converted (19th overall) didn’t help. There was SOME good, shocking, I know. In QB sack percentage, the Jags allowed one 5.54% of the time (8th best in the league), and 58% of red zone visits ended in a touchdown (12th overall). Perhaps the offense does some things right, but finding the silver lining is difficult.
Offensive Leaders Stats-
Trevor Lawrence – 172/284, 2045 passing yards, 11 passing TDs, 7 int
Tank Bigsby – 168 carries, 766 rushing yards, 7 rushing TDs
Brian Thomas Jr. – 87 rec, 1282 receiving yards, 10 receiving TDs
It’s important to note that Lawrence suffered two injuries in a year. The first was in early November with a shoulder sprain, and then when he returned in early December, a dirty play caused him to suffer a concussion versus the Texans that ended his season when he was put on IR. So, Mac Jones ended up getting some snaps later on. And the fight RB1 was split between Tank Bigsby and Travis Etienne. Combined, their rushing yards reached 1354 rushing yards. But the #1 receiver wasn’t even close to being split. Rookie Brian Thomas Jr. was and has the potential to be excellent. He did better than any first-round receiver this year.
Team Defensive Stats-
6629 total yards allowed, 389.9 YPG – 31st overall
4375 total passing yards allowed, 257.3 YPG – 32nd overall
2254 total rushing yards allowed, 132.5 YPG – 24th overall
435 total points allowed, 25.6 PPG – 28th overall
My goodness, Jacksonville! We are a LONG way away from the days of Sacksonville, especially since the Jaguars’ defense ranked 27th in total sacks at 34. But in terms of conversions, they ranked 30th in the league for third-down conversions allowed with 97, 18th in the league for fourth-down conversions allowed with 14 and 21st for touchdowns allowed in the red zone with 35. In terms of defense, Jacksonville was even poorer.
Defensive Leaders Stats-
Devin Lloyd – 113 total tackles
Travon Walker – 10.5 sacks
Andre Cisco, Jarrian Jones, Darnell Savage, Montaric Brown, Foyesade Oluokun, Devin Lloyd – 1 int (tie)
From a talent standpoint, the Jaguars shouldn’t have one of the worst defenses in the league. On the edge, guys like Travon Walker, Josh-Hines Allen, and Arik Armstead should have equal success. A talented defensive front and a good linebacker core with Devin Lloyd and Foyesade Oluokun, so what’s the problem? Answer: secondary. Regarding takeaways, the Jaguars’ defensive unit was the worst in the league, with nine in total. The safety unit of Andre Cisco, Darnell Savage, and Antonio Johnson struggled. Interestingly, the secondary coordinator, Kris Richard, was the secondary coach during the Legion of Boom days in Seattle. It’s an interesting way of thinking: was it the talent or was Richard that made them ultimately great?
Final Grade: F
Positives-
Jacksonville has talent on both sides of the ball, including a tremendous young receiver named Brian Thomas Jr. The offensive line has struggled but ultimately didn’t do too terribly protecting their quarterback. If they can improve run blocking, they would be a solid unit. The defense does have talent, but it MUST be used well if it hopes to gel into a good unit. Firing Doug Pederson was the right move, but there’s still work to be done. The Jags can easily add more talent to their team with a top-five pick. Adding Will Johnson, Mason Graham, or Malaki Starks may be the move they want to make. And with nine total draft picks, the Jags can add more talent.
Negatives-
Expectations can make or break a team, and this year may have broken the team. Projected to be a team over .500 to being one of the worst in the league is very humbling. That is if Shad Khan can be humbled. However, the biggest problem for Jacksonville is their quarterback position. Trevor Lawrence was considered one of the league’s best and most NFL-ready QBs out of college. And if the Jaguars messed him up, it would set their franchise back YEARS. Even if fans have lost confidence in him, there’s no way the Jaguars will give up on him, especially since they can use the injury excuse. In all honesty, Lawrence isn’t a bad quarterback, but he is NOT playing like a first-overall pick. And with the Jags possibly jumping the gun on his contract extension and the money they owe him, it’ll be a minute before the Jaguars have a good amount of cap room. Case in point, they have $37.8M in cap room, 18th overall. They can still try to add talent, but it won’t be a ton. And with the amount of money they spent in the offseason, the Jags have talent, but the fact that that amount of cash spent in the offseason only got them to a 4-13 record is very concerning. And finally, the Jaguars still retain GM Trent Baalke. Not firing him will hurt their chances of landing a good head coach if they choose not to fire him, as he is often credited with backstabbing his staff, coaches included. If Baalke retains his spot in Jacksonville, fans will be concerned that Shad Khan may have lost his step as an owner.
