We hear it all the time, “When a team finds their franchise quarterback the rest will fall in place.” Unfortunately, for the Jacksonville Jaguars, they don’t quite know if they have their guy though Gardner Minshew II showed promise in 2019. That said, it looks as though the staff will allow him to prove himself this regular season by adding pieces around him in the offseason.
With a limited body of work, one can understand why many fans and analysts are skeptical of Minshew and the Jags’ quarterback situation in general. The team’s No. 2, Joshua Dobbs, has zero starts to his name, which means the staff is unsure of what they have behind Minshew to a degree.
Both player’s limited bodies of work are exactly why the Jags acquired the last spot in terms of their quarterback room on Monday Morning Quarterback’s rankings of the league’s quarterback situations by Connor Orr.
32. Jacksonville Jaguars
Depth Chart: Gardner Minshew II, Joshua Dobbs
Minshew played well last year all things considered, but without an upgrade at wide receiver/tight end or a splash free agent signing (Cam Newton, anyone?) this feels like a rebuilding year in Jacksonville.
I think most would agree the Jags need a veteran with some experience within their quarterbacks group more than another project rookie. That’s probably the staff’s mindset as well and it wouldn’t be shocking to see them add or trade for a veteran down the road.
As mentioned above, Cam Newton and Jameis Winston’s names have come up all over the web as fits. However, both may be unlikely because the Jags probably want to see what they have in Minshew.
One player that NFL insider Ian Rapoport mentioned to Jags Wire as a fit was Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton, but that was only if he’s released. He has a track record with Jags coordinator Jay Gruden and spent three seasons with him to start his career. While I doubt he’d start over Minshew, he’d certainly give them one of the league’s top back up options and make the group much more respectable overall.
Other names on the market include Josh McCown (he hasn’t officially retired), Mike Glennon, Cody Kessler, Brett Hundley, and Trevor Siemian amongst notables. Of the group, Hundley has the least amount of starts (nine) and Kessler is a close second (12). The other aforementioned names have accumulated over 20 at the least.
