The Jacksonville Jaguars unfortunately endured a loss in Sunday’s battle against their divisional rivals in the Tennessee Titans, but there certainly were some positives to take from the game.
When looking at both the offense and defense, there were several players who definitely did their part to get the Jags win, and for Pro Football Focus, no other players on the team were more worth praise than linebacker Myles Jack and tight end James O’Shaughnessy. The reason for that is because both led the way with the top defensive and offensive grades on the team, respectively.
#JAXvsTEN grades are in 🚨#Jaguars highest graded players on DEF and OFF during their close 33-30 loss to the Titans yesterday:
LB Myles Jack 91.1
TE James O'Shaughnessy 90.9 pic.twitter.com/mhqjfbHaGR— PFF JAX Jaguars (@PFF_Jaguars) September 21, 2020
Jack’s improvement has been crystal clear in the eyes of most fans since his move to weak-side linebacker. He was able to move to the position as a result of the Jags acquiring Joe Schobert this spring, who took Jack’s old spot at middle linebacker and moved the fifth-year player outside.
Jack is a player who is better suited to play in space and also attack downhill and he’s done that at a high level in Weeks 1-2. In the Jags’ first two games he’s been able to accumulate 22 total tackles, with 11 coming in each contest. Of the tackles he’s made, 14 have been solo tackles and he also has a sack on the season.
O’Shaughnessy, on the other hand, had a quiet Week 1 and didn’t register a catch but was able to come away from Sunday’s game against the Titans with four for 40 yards. O’Shaughnessy is a player many had concerns for this season because he’s coming off a 2019 campaign where he didn’t finish the season due to an ACL tear. However, prior to that, he and Gardner Minshew II had built a strong connection and the two had linked up for 14 catches for 153 yards and two touchdowns.
O’Shaughnessy’s his grade on the day bodes well for the Jags offense because it’s just another solid connection that helps the group as a whole, which is clicking on all cylinders. Minshew has done a good job distributing the ball to all of his receivers and the offense as a whole has scored 57 points in their first two games. With that being the case, there is a chance O’Shaughnessy will be able to get more involved as the Jags have some players at receiver who could free him up.
