The 2021 Jacksonville Jaguars have been one of the biggest stories of the NFL off-season. They went 1-15 a season ago and landed the first overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. They made a big coaching hire by hiring Urban Meyer and drafting their franchise quarterback in Trevor Lawrence.
Can The 2021 Jacksonville Jaguars Win The AFC South?
The Jaguars New Leaders
The 2021 Jacksonville Jaguars have a lot of unknown question marks coming into the season, and one of them is, can Urban Meyer coach in the NFL? Meyer has been one of the best coaches in college football over the last 20 years but has never done it at the NFL level. Meyer has a good resume with winning national championships at Florida and Ohio State.
Another question mark is: can Trevor Lawrence be the savior of the franchise? Lawrence is one of the biggest quarterback prospects coming out of college ever, but he has never taken a single snap in the NFL. Lawrence played college football at Clemson and won the 2018 national championship. Lawrence seems like he is on the track to be one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL in the next few years, but he has to get off to a good start in his rookie season.
The NFL teams that usually succeed are the ones with a good head coach and a good quarterback. The Jaguars have both that were very good at the college level, but the NFL is an entirely different world. They both will need to rely on each other to get them through their rookie years.
Jaguars Offseason Additions
The Jaguars made some free-agent additions this offseason, and two big names they added were wide receiver Marvin Jones Jr. and cornerback Shaquill Griffin. Jones Jr. is a nice addition to a receiving core that already has DJ Chark and Laviska Shenault Jr. Griffin can come in and help out the young secondary, and help improve a defense that has not been so good recently.
The Jaguars added some players through the draft that can help them win right now. They used the 25th pick in the draft on Clemson’s running back Travis Etienne and used the first pick in the second round on Georgia’s cornerback, Tyson Campbell. Etienne can come in right away and be a tool for the offense.
The Jaguars already have a very good running back in James Robinson, and they also signed running back Carlos Hyde. Etienne can line up all over the field if they wanted him to. He can play some running back and wide receiver, and he will probably be the main third-down back. Campbell can bring some help into a secondary that needs it. I don’t expect Campbell to start from day one, but he will see the field a lot this upcoming season.
How Does the Rest of the AFC South Look?
The Houston Texans are probably going to be one of the worst teams in the NFL this season. They are dealing with the Deshaun Watson drama, and he probably will not play a snap for them this season. They also released J.J. Watt this offseason who is probably the best player in franchise history. I don’t expect the Texans to win many games this season, and they should be no threat to the Jaguars.
The Indianapolis Colts are probably the favorite to win the division. The Colts were runner-ups in this division a season ago and took a loss in the wildcard round against the Buffalo Bills. The Colts did lose their starting quarterback Philip Rivers to retirement but traded for Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz. Wentz had a pretty bad 2020 season for the Eagles, and it sent him packing to Indianapolis. If Wentz played as he did in 2020 the Colts are going to be a disaster, but if Wentz can play as he did in his first four seasons in the NFL the Colts will be the team to beat in the AFC South.
The Tennessee Titans were the 2020 AFC South champions but suffered a wildcard loss to the Baltimore Ravens. The Titans started a roster overall this offseason by releasing Adoree Jackson, Malcolm Butler, Dennis Kelly, Kenny Vaccaro, and a few more names. They also did not re-sign Corey Davis, Jonnu Smith, Desmond King, and Jadeveon Clowney back who were all free agents. They did get some pass rush help by signing Bud Dupree. The Titans offense still features quarterback Ryan Tannehill, running back Derrick Henry, and wide receiver A.J. Brown. The Titans are faced with some depth issues on both sides of the ball, and that can get them into some trouble during the season.
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Are the 2021 Jacksonville Jaguars Contenders?
The Jaguars could win this division if they can quickly start with their rookie head coach and quarterback. This is not a division with an obvious team that is going to win. All four of these teams have giant question marks surrounding them, and the one with the least amount of flaws is going to win.
The 2021 Jacksonville Jaguars are going to be a team to watch this season with who their head coach and quarterback are, but if they can play some good football they will be a very interesting team to see if they can bring home the AFC South title.
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