3 Jacksonville Jaguars to watch on offense in Week 9

The Jacksonville Jaguars have some great playmakers on offense.

This isn’t the season that Jacksonville Jaguars fans had hoped for and it’s likely not going to get any better. They might not expect to win much after starting off 1-6, but everyone is playing for their jobs. While this may be another season shrouded in a rebuild, the Jaguars should certainly be positive about their future with the young talent they have all around.

Jake Luton

The Jaguars had two options to replace an injured Gardner Minshew this week. They could either start rookie quarterback Jake Luton or veteran Mike Glennon in Minshew’s place. Since Jacksonville is basically in tank mode, they decided to go ahead with the 2020 sixth-round draft selection. Why not see what potential the young quarterback has? The Jaguars really don’t have much to lose.

In an interview with offensive coordinator Jay Gruden on Jaguars.com, Gruden said that Luton has an “outstanding demeanor, intelligence, and a great arm”. We’ll see if he can put together a winning performance in his first career start in the NFL.

James Robinson

James Robinson, undrafted in 2020, has been a surprising gift for the Jaguars offense this season. When the team released former 2017 fourth-overall selection, Leonard Fournette, just before the start of the season, Robinson quickly emerged as the lead back in Jacksonville.

He set an NFL record in week one for the most rushing yards by an undrafted running back in their debut with 62 yards. He also set the NFL record for the most scrimmage yards by an undrafted rookie in his first three games.

Robinson is a large part of what has kept this Jaguars offense going. It’s important to keep feeding him the ball but don’t overexert him. If Jacksonville is truly tanking at this point, rest him a bit and let Chris Thompson get a good chunk of the carries.

Laviska Shenault Jr.

Any three of Jacksonville’s top wide receivers could be mentioned here. Between D.J. Chark, Keelan Cole, and Laviska Shenault Jr., their stats are nearly the same. The reason I mention Shenault here above others is because of his production. All three have very similar production but Shenault has a better catch percentage and only two drops on the year. Cole also has two drops and Chark has one drop.

We already know how valuable Chark and Cole are to the Jaguars offense. This season, Jacksonville hasn’t figured out how to properly use Shenault yet. Sure the numbers say something a little different, but watching game film, he feels notably absent from the offense.

We’ll see following the bye week if the Jaguars coaching staff put together a plan to best utilize Shenault in the second half of the season.

D.J. Chark

41

26

291

11.2

3

63.4

Keelan Cole

40

28

374

13.4

3

70

Laviska Shenault Jr.

38

29

324

11.2

1

76.3