Jacksonville made a lot of moves this offseason with a new coaching staff in town led by Urban Meyer, but none of them were more important for the future of the franchise than the selection of Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence with the first overall pick. That move gives Jacksonville a potential franchise player at the position for the first time in nearly two decades.
But as good as Lawrence projects to be as a pro (he was considered a generational prospect pre-draft), he’s never actually taken a snap in an NFL game. For this reason, USA TODAY’s Mike Jones places the Jags in the “unproven” category in his rankings of teams’ quarterback situations. Other teams in that category are the Philadelphia Eagles, Miami Dolphins, Carolina Panthers, and New York Jets.
Here’s what Jones said about the Jags.
Everyone has known Lawrence would go first overall to Jacksonville for so long that the Jaguars’ selection felt anticlimactic. Urban Meyer plans for Lawrence to start Day 1. Long regarded as a potential generational talent, Lawrence has lofty expectations to live up to.
Though Lawrence is certainly expected to be starting by the end of the season and likely by Day 1, one thing Jones didn’t mention is the rest of Jacksonvilles’ quarterback group. It has a pretty nice duo behind Lawrence, as well, between Gardner Minshew, the starter for the last two years, and C.J. Beathard, a free-agent signing who has played well filling in for the injury-prone Jimmy Garoppolo.
It’s very likely Jacksonville will try to make a deal involving Minshew, but considering that didn’t happen before the draft, it’s becoming more likely that he will remain on the roster.
The Jags’ situation may be “unproven,” but they would probably take their depth chart over any of their contemporaries in the category.
