What Positions Should Be Addressed on the Jaguars Offense After The Season?

Jacksonville Already Features A Top 10 Offense This Season

Before this season, a lot of fans weren't completely sold on the offseason additions that were made on the offense. The Christian Kirk deal was perhaps the most controversial since it arguably reset the wide receiver market(it was inevitable anyway) and the addition of Zay Jones at his current salary was completely out of left field. The Jaguars also signed Brandon Scherff who came with injury issues and Evan Engram who was absolutely detested for drop issues in New York.

As much of a risk as all of these moves presented, every one of the aforementioned players has been a huge addition to the Jaguars offense. Christian Kirk just surpassed his highest total yards in a season and is only 12 yards away from hitting a thousand on the season. In addition, he's developed into one of the top redzone threats across the league with stats that only trailed Travis Kelce. Meanwhile, Zay Jones has blown his best season out of the water and will likely end with just under the thousand yard milestone.

Although Scherff hasn't performed to the level of his previous years, he's only two games away from going a full season without a major injury which he hasn't done in years. Meanwhile, Evan Engram has had what's looked like a complete resurgence in his career with 26 receptions, 337 yards and two touchdowns over the past three weeks. That level of production easily puts him among the best receiving tight ends in football.

We've also been able to watch players who were here before take big steps in their careers. Trevor Lawrence has played like the best quarterback in the league over the last couple months while his former college teammate Travis Etienne hit the thousand yard mark in his debut season. While both players have had some turnover issues at points this season, they'll grow out of those and only continue to get better.

Evan Engram And Jawaan Taylor Could Be Tough Decisions For The Jaguars Front Office

With a tight salary cap situation this offseason, the Jaguars will have to decide whether they'd prefer to let players walk or move cap hits down the road. With how much money will likely be available to the team in 2024, I think it's an obvious choice to resign and backload contracts. The Jaguars are currently over the salary cap for the next season, but they can work their way back under by cutting players such as Roy-Robertson Harris and Shaquill Griffin.

Evan Engram signed a one-year deal with the Jaguars to prove his worth, and I think it's fair to say he's proven it with his performance this season. Although he didn't take the league by storm early on, you could clearly see that he was making the most of his opportunities and becoming a reliable option for converting more first downs. However, this last month has been a godsend for the tight end as he's outpaced nearly every if not all of his counterparts in the league. Although he isn't meeting the standard you want to see as a blocker, his value to the passing game is almost irreplaceable at a position with few reliable starters.

Jawaan Taylor has been another interesting story this year. Taylor has arguably been the best offensive lineman on the Jaguars this year, but he's also had games where he's been dominated and allowed multiple sacks. Similar to the situation with Engram, there are few reliable tackles in the NFL and the Jaguars might have one of those in Taylor. They'll have to decide whether he's proven enough to be worthy of a big contract extension which may not even be an option after the Jaguars overpaid for Cam Robinson.

I would personally resign Evan Engram to a long-term deal and attempt to tag and trade Jawaan Taylor. Engram made it known that he wants to stay in Jacksonville and has clearly become a huge asset to Trevor Lawrence. That's more than enough to warrant a worthy contract extension.

As for Taylor, I believe the Jaguars may already have a replacement in Walker Little and would even be better off investing in a young prospect. With how Jawaan Taylor has performed this year, the Jaguars could approach it the same way they did with Yannick Ngakoue(minus the controversy) and offload the veteran for a late Day 2 pick. I could understand why the Jaguars may resign him to a long-term deal, but I believe there's better options and this ultimately handicaps the ceiling that we could see out of the tackle position for the future.

Jaguars Could Afford To Upgrade Their Run Blocking Department

While the Jaguars have spent much of this season as one of the best pass blocking teams, they've also been among the worst in run blocking. According to PFF, the Jaguars have ranked as the 10th best at pass blocking and the 3rd worst at run blocking. It presents an interesting question that we talked about on our podcast recently, is that good enough? I believe the answer is clearly no.

The best football teams aren't completely one dimensional. While the Chiefs and Bills may be known for their great passing games, both teams have learned that they must supplement that with a ground game. If you're not able to run effectively then you can't control the clock and you also limit your ability to tire out a defense. Travis Etienne has had his own problems this year with fumbles, but he could be helped with better run blocking. I would also argue that the Jaguars should add another threat to the rushing attack, but that can be addressed later in the draft with ease.

The issue of addressing this for the Jaguars is that they're likely going to be forced to address this during the draft and as of now wouldn't be high enough to land one of the top prospects. It's almost a guarantee that both Peter Skoronski and Paris Johnson Jr. would be off the board before the playoff teams make selections, so the Jaguars would have to investigate prospects who need more development such as Broderick Jones or O'Cyrus Torrence. The latter would be my favorite of those options, but he may warrant a selection in the draft that would either lead to him being a reach or unavailable where the Jaguars pick.

Another way the Jaguars could improve their run blocking is by selecting a balanced tight end who excels in run blocking. Michael Mayer might be overkill as a first round selection with the likely presence of Evan Engram, but I could see the Jaguars falling in love with a prospect like Darnell Washington. He's been known as a fantastic blocker throughout his college career and has begun establishing a nice resume as a pass catcher.

Adding a balanced player would improve the rushing attack while not broadcasting to the defense what your plan is. While players like Manhertz may excel at blocking, defenses don't view him as a passing threat and would be able to sniff out the run easier. Doug Pederson has also been known as a positive influence on tight ends so we could only imagine what he could do with a unicorn like Washington.

With Calvin Ridley already fixing to be the best addition to the Jaguars offense next year, there's not much work that needs to be done on this side of the ball. What the Jaguars must do is ensure that they're providing Lawrence with everything he needs to succeed and I believe that a reliable rushing attack is the one facet that remains. If the Jaguars can figure that out this offseason they'll be a nightmare for the opposing sideline.

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