Quarterback has the biggest impact of all positions on a football field. That’s why they get the highest salaries in the NFL and teams go out of their way to get a good one. The bottom line is that the better your signal-caller is, the higher your chances of winning games will be and while the Jacksonville Jaguars have several roster needs ahead of the draft, quarterback isn’t one of them due to the presence of Trevor Lawrence. In fact, the Jags aren’t the only AFC South with a talented passer in place. Nevertheless, the division as a whole earned a low ranking.
Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports recently ranked all NFL divisions based on how good their quarterbacks are and the AFC South popped up at No. 6, two spots away from the league’s cellar. Benjamin argues Tom Brady (NFC South) is more talented than all quarterbacks in the AFC South. On the other hand, the division features three quarterbacks with the potential to be top 15.
"You’d easily take Brady over any of these guys. But as a whole, look a little closer, and you’ve potentially got three top-15 starters in Ryan, who’s aging but should benefit from a sturdier setup in Indianapolis; Tannehill, who’s probably peaked but is due to rebound with an improved smash-mouth Titans team; and Lawrence, who can’t be much worse on a stocked-up Jaguars team under Doug Pederson. Mills also flashed in a tough spot in 2021, but can we count on him as a franchise arm?"
In case you were wondering, the AFC West got the top spot in the ranking due to the presence of Patrick Mahomes (Kansas City Chiefs), Derek Carr (Las Vegas Raider), Russell Wilson (Denver Broncos), and Justin Herbert (Los Angeles Chargers). The AFC North landed at No. 2 and the NFC North finished third.
The Jaguars have their quarterback of the future in Trevor Lawrence.
Finding a good quarterback is hard, as the Jaguars have attested. They tried several solutions for more than a decade and none of them work out. Before Lawrence, Gardner Minshew was the starter, and players such as Jake Luton and Nick Foles suited up for the Jags. Similarly, they drafted Blake Bortles and Blaine Gabbert in the top 5 of the draft and neither one panned out.
On the bright side, the Jags don’t have to worry about the quarterback position with Trevor Lawrence at the helm. In fact, it wouldn’t be shocking to see the former Clemson Tiger become the best passer in the division in a few years. Of course, he would need to fulfill his potential and the team’s brass needs to put him in a position to succeed.
For the time being, the Jags need to take one step at a time. Their main focus right now should be winning games and getting out of the AFC South’s cellar. For that to happen, they need to find some consistency and hit on most of their picks in the draft, something they haven’t done in recent years.