Jacksonville Jaguars vs the NFL: The case for drafting defense
By Jeff Tice
Exhibit B: The Jaguars must keep up with the AFC quarterback explosion.
The 2022 offseason has seen Russell Wilson, Matt Ryan, and Deshaun Watson join the already potent AFC quarterback club. The pathway to the playoffs, and ultimately the Super Bowl, is fraught with lethal passers. According to this article, of the top 10 projected quarterbacks in the NFL next year, six will be in the AFC and only four in the NFC, with Russell Wilson right there at 11.
Tom Brady is among those four, and once Tom Terrific retires, that’ll be seven top 10 quarterbacks in the AFC. Hopefully, Trevor Lawrence will join that group, potentially meaning eight of the top 10 quarterbacks in the NFL moving forward could reside in the AFC.
That’s a lot of firepower to overcome for any team. Other teams in the NFL have noticed, and most of those top-tier opposing quarterbacks are young, meaning they don’t appear to be going anywhere. Subsequently, as Jacksonville fans look toward the future, they see that their team had better be able to score a lot of points in order to keep up. But, as Khari Thompson of Boston.com outlined above, it might be more important to have the ability to slow those quarterbacks down.
"“The AFC’s growing strength will make the battle for the conference’s seven playoff spots even more bitter than it was a year ago.”"