Big Cat Country
Not a lot went right for the 2024 Jacksonville Jaguars, but this year’s rookie class should provide some optimism for the future.
As fans eagerly await the news of who the next head coach of the team will be going forward, it seems like a great time to ease some stress with an end-of-season look at how the Jacksonville Jaguars rookie class fared in 2024.
The team had nine picks in last year’s draft and each of them contributed in varying capacities this season.
First-round pick Brian Thomas Jr. dominated the headlines with his incredible play in year one but he’s not the only rook that looked like a key piece for the future.
Here’s a recap of how each Jacksonville Jaguars rookie fared in 2024.
It took just one season of seeing Brian Thomas Jr. play football to realize that he is on the brink of superstardom when projecting his future with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
In year one, BTJ broke every single rookie receiving record for the Jags. He finished his first season with 87 receptions for 1,282 yards and 10 touchdowns. The only other receivers across the league to match all three of those thresholds were Ja’Marr Chase, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and Justin Jefferson, all three of which were voted first-team All-Pro.
He accomplished all of this while dealing with inconsistent quarterback play and being in one of the least creative offenses in the entire league with no other stars to pull away attention.
With the coaching situation still up in the air, nobody knows what the offensive philosophy will look like in 2025, but something tells me that an emphasis on getting Brian Thomas Jr. the ball as much as possible is likely, regardless of who Shad Khan brings in to be the next head coach.
The selection of Maason Smith with the 48th overall pick of the 2024 NFL draft was a surprise to many at the time. It was a vintage Trent Baalke selection as Smith met all the size and length thresholds but lacked the production you would expect for such a high pick. The criticism was validated early on too, as Smith was a healthy scratch several times early in the season and missed a good stretch in the middle of the season with an ankle injury.
That said, Smith really flashed quite a bit in the second half of the year as he became the only source of interior pressure on the Jags in 2024. He finished his rookie season with three sacks, three pass deflections and four QB hits as he looks like he could be a real piece going forward in Jacksonville.
The Jacksonville Jaguars secondary was brutal in 2024 as they finished dead last in pass defense (257 YPG) while allowing big plays left and right (allowed league-high 14 completions of over 40 yards). Perhaps the lone positive fans can take away from the backend of the defense in...
