Jacksonville Jaguars could be as good as their 2017 counterpart

The Jaguars have a promising quarterback in Trevor Lawrence.

With the gift of hindsight, it is easy to see how perfectly the 2017 defense was set up for greatness. But, in May of 2017, when Mitchell Eltzholtz expected the Jags to have a good defense, he didn’t expect it to be stellar. Mike DiRocco didn’t think the defense would be good enough to lead the Jaguars to the AFC Championship game. There was hope. But, the expectation at that time wasn’t too different from what fans are feeling now.

Young Quarterbacks: Blake Bortles vs. Trevor Lawrence. This similarity, while somewhat accurate, is a little different. Bortles was drafted in 2014, and while he didn’t start the season opener, he started 13 games that year. So, while Lawrence enters his true second season as a starter, Bortles was essentially entering his third. But, the similarity here is more about the expectation, or hope, that each quarterback will take the next step.

While the fanbase in Jacksonville does have a small minority of fans who don’t see potential in Lawrence, it’s fair to say the vast majority of fans are more bullish on Lawrence now than they were on Bortles going into 2017. Sure, many optimists were pointing to some encouraging stats from The Boat’s second year, but many were pointing out that those stats were misleading as they were accumulated during “garbage time.”

Meanwhile, Trevor Lawrence is still seen as a potential star, with mitigating circumstances limiting him to a less than impressive rookie year. The former Clemson Tiger wins the battle of optimism for young quarterbacks.