Battle Red Blog
We are all one big happy family here at SBNation. This is particularly true in the NFL. We have been working with Big Cat Country for years and I have been working with Gus Logue throughout that time. We got to catch up again in advance of the first of two games against the Jacksonville Jaguars this season. It has been a pleasure catching up with Gus over the years and he was generous enough with his time to answer some questions about the Jaguars.
Battle Red Blog: It’s another new offense for Trevor Lawrence and things look better in the early going than they did a year ago. What are the main differences between this offensive system and the Doug Pederson offenses of the past few seasons?
Gus Logue: Really, the biggest difference has been a well-coached ground attack. Jacksonville currently leads the league in rushing yards after finishing 26th last year, and they also rank first in yards from screens and 12th in yards off play action. Credit to all of the players and coaches involved, especially Liam Coen for his play calling and culture setting. The Jaguars have scored over 25 points in consecutive weeks — something that occurred only once all last year.
Lawrence has benefitted from an offense that’s more balanced, and a system that provides more answers. He has full autonomy to audible plays at the line of scrimmage; receivers are no longer running stagnant routes (which limits YAC opportunities); and there are more full-field reads with progressions that are actually tied to the timing of route concepts. We still haven’t forgiven Press Taylor.
BRB: Obviously, much of the attention will be on Travis Hunter who might be the most unique player in the NFL in the past few decades. How are they using him so far in terms of the number of plays he is in on offense and defense? So far, which side of the ball does he seem to be better at? The Jaguars traded a lot to move up to get him. Is he living up to expectations so far?
GL: Hunter played 42 offensive snaps in both games so far, with 6 defensive snaps in Week 1 and 43 in Week 2. He’s worked with the offense more since being drafted — he was more refined as a cornerback prospect and playing receiver usually takes more development anyway — but Liam Coen said Wednesday that he’s spending time on each side of the ball at a pretty even rate now. He hasn’t proven himself as an every-level receiving threat yet, and will likely never be a plus run defender, but man, can he cover.
The Unicorn hasn’t lived up to “we traded two first-rounders for you” expectations. His first “wow” moment in the NFL has yet to come. But it’s only been two weeks. The organization seems pleased with his development and attitude behind the scenes.
**BRB: Who are some of the new faces in Jacksonville (other than...
