Big Cat Country
To get a feel for how the Jacksonville Jaguars are viewed around the league, here’s a look at a handful of national media power rankings.
Travis Hunter got banged up before the preseason finale but maybe that’s a good thing. He’ll be used plenty during the season, and missing a bit of time in August isn’t bad. Hunter is going to be a big story in September as he likely plays offense and defense.
The new regime has done a nice job with Trevor Lawrence so far. But this is a major year for him to prove many of the doubters wrong. If not, this team has big problems.
Are we already souring on the grand Travis Hunter experiment after he was sideswiped by injury before the games that count have even started? Will be interesting to see how many snaps he plays Sunday.
The Jaguars are suddenly a must-watch team, with Travis Hunter joining Brian Thomas Jr. to form one of the more explosive young WR duos in the league. Hunter also plays defense, as you might have read. And while, yes, of course I want to see how Liam Coen handles what will be one of the league’s most fascinating experiments in a while, that’s not the only thing on Coen’s to-do list. The first-year head coach was also brought in to salvage Trevor Lawrence and reshape this offense in his vision, getting out of it what Doug Pederson could not over the past few years. The schedule lays out nicely, and if the Jaguars’ defense can do a better job of slowing down opponents’ aerial games after finishing 32nd in pass defense in 2024, they might be sneaky wild-card candidates.
Rookie receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter will draw more casual fans to turn on Jaguars games, but the actual story of the team still revolves around quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Whatever goodwill Lawrence still had going into last season evaporated after his awful start, and now he needs to show that he can once again lead an efficient offense, as he did a few years ago.
Lawrence took a big step back in his accuracy, his feel for pressure, and his ability to create out of structure. New head coach Liam Coen did an excellent job of improving each of those things with Baker Mayfield in Tampa Bay last season, and Mayfield is a much less physically gifted passer than Lawrence. If we see similar improvements from Lawrence this season, I might be willing to buy back in on the Jags.
The Jaguars are either going to be a breath of fresh air with youth dotting every corner of this facility in major decision-making positions, or a textbook example of how...
