Jacksonville Jaguars HC wants to see more competition at all positions

Now that Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone has said he is ready to go into 2020 with Gardner Minshew as his quarterback, there will also be competition at the position.

Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone has spoken.

When asked this past week by the local media during a pre-draft presser through Zoom, Marrone said he is excited about having Gardner Minshew as the team’s starting quarterback. But even with the decision that Minshew will take the reins of the team for the upcoming season, Marrone still wants there to be competition at the position as well as other areas of the team’s roster.

"“When you look at it, first of all, we evaluate everyone in the draft. We evaluated the quarterback position like we evaluated the defensive end and running back positions, everything,” Marrone said.More from Jacksonville Jaguars NewsJacksonville Jaguars fortify secondary in 4-round 2023 Post-Combine NFL Mock DraftJacksonville Jaguars RT Jawaan Taylor expected to have massive market in 2023 NFL Free AgencyRobert Tonyan could be perfect complement to Jacksonville Jaguars TE Evan Engram in 2023 NFL Free Agency5 Jacksonville Jaguars dream targets in 2023 NFL Free Agency3 potential trade partners for Jacksonville Jaguars CB Shaquill Griffin“Sometimes you look out there and, right now, if we went to play and Gardner Minshew is our guy and I’m excited about that. But do I want competition for him? Absolutely. You want competition for everybody. You want competition for everyone though. I don’t want to make it where I’m answering this question and, ‘Marrone is not as confident’ or ‘Marrone wants competition.’ I want competition) not just for the quarterback but I want competition for everyone.”"

All six of the Jaguars wins last season were led with Minshew under center after he replaced Nick Foles as the starter twice in 2019. The offense moved more fluidly with the rookie on the field and the passing game was more efficient. In 14 the 14 games he played in last year, the former sixth-round pick threw for 3.217 yards and 21 touchdowns and was ranked amongst the top rookie quarterbacks in the NFL.

Marrone acknowledged his signal-caller grew into the role as the season progressed last year.

"“The one thing about Gardner is that he showed some good things last year… He’s a guy right now that’s working his ass off. We’re working on getting a better football team and, like Dave said, if we can bring someone in, cool,” Marrone said.“Or the other thing is bring some people around him that can help that position at quarterback. I think everyone has to prove. It’s no different than Josh Allen, who had a great year, or DJ Chark, who had a great year. Brandon Linder had a great year. When people talk about, hey, do you have confidence in this player, well, when you put a player on that field and he’s a starter, what you’re saying is that you have total confidence in this player.”"

The Jacksonville Jaguars offense should look a little different this coming season knowing Jay Gruden is the new offensive coordinator, which means there could be more of an aerial attack. It could also mean the tight end is more involved in the passing game. The team’s tight ends were decimated by injuries last season.

"“I think we are going to look at who the best players are, and at the end of the day you want to be 50-50,” Marrone added. “But if it is 60-40 pass-run or run-pass, depending on how the game goes, I do not mind. What I want to do and what I am really focused on is how we are going to get better situationally. I think that is the one thing that has held us from scoring and being on the field.”"

Last season, the Jaguars used a heavy dose of Leonard Fournette and the ground game to help the rookie out. Also, Fournette became the team’s third-down back and led the team with 76 receptions.