A year ago, the Jacksonville Jaguars spent the 2023 offseason lightly tinkering with their roster. All but one of the team’s 22 starters from the 2022 season returned to the team. The most expensive free agent acquisition was kicker Brandon McManus, who signed a $2 million deal.
It’s safe to say the Jaguars need to do a lot more in 2024.
After a 9-8 finish in 2022, the team’s “run it back” philosophy yielded another 9-8 finish in 2023. Unlike the first year, finishing just over .500 wasn’t enough for a spot in the postseason.
Now Jacksonville is trying to figure out what changes it needs to make after five losses in six weeks tanked its 2023 season. Step one was the firing of defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell, along with several other assistant coaches, but there’s plenty more work to be done.
Here’s every position group for the Jaguars, ranked from the most in need of an upgrade to the one that’s the lowest priority this offseason:
Offensive line
Nothing was more of a problem for the Jaguars in 2023 than their interior line with the center position proving especially problematic.
Luke Fortner, a 2021 third-round pick, has struggled to get any push early in his career and it’s been a severe detriment to the team. The Jaguars were dead-last in yards before contact on run plays and had the highest percentage of runs that were stuffed for a yard or less.
Next to Fortner, the Jaguars finished the season with impending free agent Ezra Cleveland, who was underwhelming after taking over at left guard, and Brandon Scherff, an obvious candidate to be a cap casualty.
The Jaguars have to be better up front and that may require a complete overhaul of the interior offensive line.
Defensive line
At times, the Jaguars were stellar against the run in 2023. Then there were games like the late season losses to the Ravens and Titans when the Jacksonville defense line couldn’t stop anybody.
What was consistent all year, though, is that pockets were rarely collapsed by Jaguars linemen. While no tandem had more sacks in 2023 than Josh Allen and Travon Walker, the Jaguars finished bottom 10 in the NFL in sacks because hardly anyone else touched a quarterback.
Adding interior pressure would be a huge boost for the Jacksonville defense.
Outside linebacker
Allen put together a career year in 2023 with 17.5 sacks and Walker made significant progress in year two with 10 sacks. The list of Jaguars pass rushers ends there, though.
Former first-round pick K’Lavon Chaisson is likely headed out of town after recording only five sacks in four seasons, and Dawuane Smoot isn’t a priority either after finishing 2023 with only one sack. Yasir Abdullah, a 2023 fifth-round pick, was a healthy scratch for the majority of his rookie season.
While the Jaguars have a starting duo to feel good about, depth at a position where rotation is a necessity is currently non-existent.
Wide receiver
The Jaguars entered the 2023 season with the philosophy that three No. 2 receivers can make for a dangerous offense, even if there isn’t a No. 1 in the group. But that thought crumbled when Zay Jones struggled through injuries and Christian Kirk went down late in the year.
Even if the team retains Calvin Ridley, it should make an effort to give Trevor Lawrence a more reliable weapon or two, so he doesn’t have to 100 five-yard passes to Evan Engram again.
Cornerback
Tyson Campbell’s future is a little tougher to gauge after he struggled through a rough, injury-filled 2023 season. It’s also hard to tell if Montaric Brown and/or Gregory Junior will be long-term fixtures in the Jacksonville secondary.
The question is whether the Jaguars move on from veterans Darious Williams and/or Tre Herndon this offseason. Both had solid seasons in 2023, but the Jaguars could save $10 million by parting with Williams and Herndon was largely replaced by Antonio Johnson late in the year.
Either way, a player to pair with Campbell for the foreseeable future is probably going to be a priority sooner or later.
Running back
What looked like a strength of the roster before the season didn’t yield much results once games started being played. Travis Etienne got more than 76 percent of the touches at the position with Tank Bigsby struggling through rookie miscues and D’Ernest Johnson really only contributing during a short stretch in November.
It’s probably too early to give up on Bigsby, but finding a complementary back who could bring more oomph between the tackles wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Inside linebacker
Opinions on the play of Devin Lloyd seem to vary wildly, but it’d be a surprise if the 2022 first-round pick wasn’t a starter for the team for at least two more seasons. It’s tough to say the same about Foye Oluokun.
While he’s a tackling machine and a defensive team captain, does he make enough plays for the Jaguars to ignore the opportunity to get $15 million in salary cap savings?
If Jacksonville feels really good about Chad Muma and/or Ventrell Miller, inside linebacker may not be much of a need at all. If the team decides it needs a starter to replace Oluokun pretty soon, this could be a priority.
Safety
Andre Cisco’s 2023 season tailed off after a spectacular start, but the Jaguars still got strong play out of the entire position group when you include Rayshawn Jenkins, Andrew Wingard, and Antonio Johnson.
There are enough quality players at the position that it wouldn’t make sense for the Jaguars to pass on $9 million in cap savings by keeping Jenkins.
Jacksonville may be content to roll with Cisco and Wingard or Johnson at safety. Getting a dynamic strong safety to take over Jenkins and free up Johnson to play in the slot isn’t a bad idea, though.
Tight end
Evan Engram’s 114 receptions in 2023 were the second most an NFL tight end has ever had in a season. While his 8.4 yards per reception and four touchdowns weren’t stellar, there’s still no doubt that the Jaguars have a premier player and leader at the position.
While the jury is still out on Brenton Strange, the Jaguars probably aren’t looking for someone to jump the 2023 second-round pick on the depth chart either.
Quarterback
Trevor Lawrence is the Jaguars’ guy.
The question right now is whether or not the team gives the 2021 first overall pick a massive contract extension in the 2024 offseason, not if they’ll be replacing him anytime soon.
Jacksonville probably isn’t interested in replacing backup C.J. Beathard, who signed a two-year extension last offseason, either.
