Jacksonville Jaguars fans must trust the process for 2020

After two straight years of losing football, Jacksonville Jaguars fans are once again being asked to trust in the process for this season.

This might be asking a lot of Jacksonville Jaguars, but here is a plea to trust the process the front office has put together to hopefully build another winner in North Florida.

It’s something we have all heard before, changing the ways of a losing football organization for the greater good. It’s also hard to plead with season ticket holders to believe in a team that has won just 11 games in the last two seasons after almost playing for a Lombardi Trophy. But in the spirit of this editorial, please play along.

The Jaguars are one of those Jekyll and Hyde football teams that have the potential to make huge strides year after year but fall short. Solid players walk in and out of TIAA Bank Field like a revolving door. Coaches stay longer than they should and the front office fails to move the right chess pieces when they need to. It’s a recipe for an eight-letter word and yet, here we are talking about what can happen if young talent continues to develop.

There is a word for that, but I will allow you to determine what that is.

The Jacksonville Jaguars begin their march toward the 2020 season with a second-year quarterback (Gardner Minshew) who is both loved and scrutinized by the fans and local media.

They have a stud wide receiver in the making (DJ Chark). There are two pass rushers (Josh Allen and Yannick Ngakoue) who are among the top 15 at their position in the league. Their running back had his best season in 2019 but is still over considered above-average at best (Leonard Fournette).

Oh wait, there is more.

The offensive line has two dependable starters (Brandon Linder and Jawaan Taylor). The tight end position received a boost with an addition of one veteran free agent (Tyler Eifert). The linebackers should be much better this season and the secondary boasts a No. 1 draft pick who has plenty of questions (C.J. Henderson).

At least the kicking game is amongst the best in the NFL (Josh Lambo and Logan Cooke).

So with all these questions about the 2020 season, why buy into the process? Because that is what we are conditioned to do. Football is addictive. We expect the worst and hope for the best of these Jaguars and legitimately, the city of Jacksonville is home to a fraternity along with 31 other NFL franchises. That still makes this football team special.

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Everything the team does this season appears to be predicated on what happens with the offense. That isn’t necessarily the case, but because of most of this offseason’s attention to Minshew, it falls at his feet.

Players who have worked with offensive coordinator Jay Gruden in past seasons have praised No. 15 for how he has handled his role with the team.

"“He’s been on top of it pretty well already given that it’s been a little over or under a month that he’s had the playbook and learning it,” running back Chris Thompson said. “I think it’s going to be no problem for him to catch on to it.”"

It should be a welcomed situation for Minshew, who could thrive under Gruden in a more efficient passing game. The front office has also noticed how the quarterback is leading by example in this virtual offseason.

"“I’ve chatted to him and talked to people around him, and it seems like he’s a man on a mission,” General Manager David Caldwell said via Jaguars.com.“He can take another step up,” Caldwell said. “What he did as a rookie was impressive. If he gets 20 percent better, you’re looking at it like, ‘Wow, we could really have something with him.”"

But Minshew should not be the only reason for the success and failure of this football team. Fans should not throw all their cheering and jeering at the second-year star. There are other players – and a coaching staff – who must take a mighty step forward.

This is a team that has potential, but like most seasons here in Jacksonville, that potential may not be realized. Yes, that’s a hard pill to swallow once again.

For now, the Jacksonville Jaguars are preparing the best way they can for the 2020 season to begin. Once again, fans and the media are recoiling, waiting to strike if the season does not turn out as hoped. It’s a cycle this organization goes through almost every year.

It’s also a cycle that fans, unfortunately, have gotten used to.