NFL 2024 season - Jacksonville Jaguars team preview

Yahoo Sports' Jason Fitz and Frank Schwab discuss Jacksonville's offense and whether quarterback Trevor Lawrence can break through and meet lofty expectations. Listen and subscribe to the “Zero Blitz” podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen.

Video Transcript

There's only one talking point with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Now, we've both been pretty hard on Trevor Lawrence.

But, uh, what, what is your big thing with the Jacksonville Jaguars coming into the season?

I remember the day he was drafted, I was hosting the draft show for ESPN at the time.

And the first thing I said about Trevor Lawrence is that the Jags will fail Trevor Lawrence before Trevor Lawrence will fail the Jags.

And then what do you know they tried like Urban Meyer was such a disaster and then Doug Peterson comes in and we get what we think is competent coaching and you start to see this ascension, but it just hasn't broken through.

And now that I do think there's a real question.

They are treating their roster construction like Trevor Lawrence has already answered every question and he is a riser, right?

Like I've talked so much about how quarterbacks have the seesaw in the beginning.

They need help and then when they get paid, they're supposed to be at a level where they are the help, right?

You can put things around them and they make them better.

They are treating Trevor Lawrence, like he's already proven at the NFL level.

He is that, I don't know that that's the case.

I mean, I don't necessarily love their weapons.

I don't necessarily love their offensive.

I think Trevor Lawrence is going to be asked to do a ton of heavy lifting.

This is one of those rare situations and Frank, I don't know that we see it very often.

It's rare that you see a coach that the world's seems to respect and a quarterback that the world seems to respect, aligned on one team that the world doesn't respect.

And that says everything about the rest of the roster construction for Jacksonville because I think frankly it's a problem.

The one big question is Trevor Lawrence and I don't think the Jags have done anything to help answer that question.

II, I agree with you and I think Trevor has brought some of it on himself.

He's, he, he misses throws and he, he makes mistakes, but they lead you to people out there on social media.

They're not hard to find who basically will dunk on you if you rip Trevor Lawrence and say, what have the Jaguars done for him?

And when you take a step back and look at it, they're not wrong.

I mean, this again, you brought up some of the issues here who's our number one receiver I could, Brian Thomas their first round pick, but we don't know that yet.

He's a first, he he's a first round rookie.

They hit and miss all the time.

Guys like Gabriel Davis, Christian Kirk just strike me as pretty good.

Number twos, but not a number one, their offensive line isn't great.

Their defense isn't the type of defense that could just say, hey, Trevor, we don't need 31 points today.

We got this.

Not, not yet.

I, I mean, maybe they're getting there, Tron Walker, he's taken steps forward, but this defense as a whole isn't great.

Now, on this team is great.

So they need Trevor Lawrence to be great and it's hard for him because I, I don't know that he's there yet and I don't know if he has a cast around him either.

So it's this total chicken and egg thing, especially with, you know, having to pay Trevor Lawrence because he's at that point in his rookie deal.

Where is Trevor Lawrence?

Great?

And we're failing him or is Trevor Lawrence?

Not as great as we thought and none of this is gonna help him.

I don't know if Jaguars has answer yet and I, I think we, we, I don't know that they're going to get this, those answers this season.

It's a really fascinating year coming up for the Jaguars just in terms of development where they're going with everything.

I, I just, I don't think that they've done right by Trevor Lawrence yet, but yet Trevor Lawrence himself hasn't been the great, you know, Andrew luck John Elway.

Joe Namath type of prospect we expected either.

Yeah, he's got a breakthrough this year and if he doesn't, things get really complicated for the Jacks.

So, uh and you're right, he, he's a quarterback that everybody's been wanting to make excuses for.