NFL Season Preview: Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jacksonville Jaguars have been one of the NFL's worst teams over the past several years, and even after drafting the generational prospect Trevor Lawrence in 2021, they still struggled to do much of anything a season ago. Now, the team has shed the disaster of a head coach they had in 2021, and while the roster hasn't been completely overhauled, the team has added enough talent to compete in games in 2022, and if Trevor Lawrence takes the next step forward, this could be a fun team to watch going forward.

Positives

Trevor Lawrence may not have looked like a star in 2021, but he certainly flashed the potential that people have seen since his time at Clemson, and with all that ability and some new weapons, he remains the brightest hope this team has had in a long time. The weapons were upgraded and the Jags have potential at a lot of positions, but it all hinges on No. 16, and if he can turn those flashes of potential into consistent performances, then this will be a very good team in a year or two.

Negatives

Unfortunately, the depth of talent just isn't there right now, and even if there's players who could be good in plenty of different positions, the lack of veteran starters for this team isn't going to help them much in 2022. The Jaguars are building nicely, and getting rid of Urban Meyer may be the biggest positive in franchise history, but until the team can develop this young talent and eventually add proven, NFL level stars, they'll just struggle to consistently win games in the league.

Team MVP

Trevor Lawrence may not have stepped into the NFL and performed like a star immediately, but all of those evaluations and physical tools don't just disappear, and if this team wants to make some noise in 2022 or attract free agents beyond next off-season, then he's going to have to step up and make good on all of that potential. With new weapons like Christian Kirk, Zay Jones and Evan Engram joining the squad, along with the pieces that were around for his rookie year, Lawrence has the weapons he needs to succeed, and if the Jags are to avoid a top-5 pick in the 2023 draft, Trevor will be the teams MVP in 2022.

Record Prediction

Unfortunately for Jacksonville, their schedule isn't very kind to them, and without stars on both sides of the ball at multiple positions, they're just going to be outmatched in the majority of games they play, so beyond a few upsets, there may be a lot of losses down in Florida. The Jags will definitely be competitive in plenty of games, but being competitive and being good enough to win big games are two different things, and unfortunately, they don't have the deep, balanced roster that other AFC squads do, and that will result in this team winning no more than 5 games in 2022, still an improvement over last year however.

Photo Credit: Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK