With the Kansas City Chiefs beating the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 59, all 32 NFL teams will be in offseason mode. Everyone will now spend the next few months preparing for the offseason. The Jacksonville Jaguars got a head start after failing to make the playoffs and have their work cut out if they want to contend in 2025. For the time being, they popped up near the cellar of ESPN's power rankings.
ESPN ranked all 32 teams after the Super Bowl and had their beat writers talk about what their focus should be in the offseason. The Jags landed at No. 26, and Michael DiRocco says they must build around Trevor Lawrence, pointing out that finding a head coach who could get the most out of him was the team's top priority.
"Owner Shad Khan said his No. 1 priority in a head coach was a young, offense-minded coach who could get quarterback Trevor Lawrence to play consistently at a high level. He picked 39-year-old Liam Coen because of the Coen's work with Baker Mayfield, who set career highs in passing yards (4,500), touchdowns (41) and completion percentage (71.4%) with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. An under-the-radar issue for Lawrence was his poor play outside the pocket. Per ESPN Research, he completed only 4 of 20 passes and his 2.3 QBR on throws outside the pocket ranked last in 2024 (Mayfield was fifth at 80.2)."
Lawrence is coming off a pair of underwhelming seasons. While his decision-making and mechanics weren't great last year, he didn't get much help from the organization. He had inadequate coaching, and his supporting cast left much to be desired. Add the fact that the running game was non-existent, and it's easy to understand why No. 16 faltered in 2024.
On the other hand, quarterbacks have the biggest impact on the outcome of a football game, and Lawrence struggled to put the Jaguars on his back. Owner Shad Khan realized that they needed him to put him in a situation to succeed and looked for a coach who could get the most out of him. Liam Coen is that guy.
Coen helped Baker Mayfield post new career highs for several categories and turned the running game into one of the best in the league during his lone season as the offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He's expected to have a similar impact in Jacksonville.
Why the Jaguars must build around Trevor Lawrence to win
Make no mistake, Trevor Lawrence is no longer a young quarterback trying to find his footing in the NFL. He's a vested veteran who signed a five-year, $275 million contract last offseason and has yet to live up to it. He needs to prove that the Jacksonville Jaguars were right to make such a massive investment in him. Working in his favor is that he'll have Liam Coen in his corner.
It's worth noting that Coen's responsibilities go beyond Lawrence. Sure, helping him hit his stride is one of the top priorities but he'll now oversee a full team. He'll need to ensure that the offensive line can hold their blocks up front in both and the defense can stop teams from reaching the end zone. It won't be an easy task.
Last season, the Jaguars were one of the worst teams in the league when it came to establishing the run because the O-Line couldn't block. Coen will need to fix that if Jacksonville doesn't want to be one-dimensional. On defense, he'll lean on Anthony Campaneli to get the most out of a talented yet underwhelming unit. Specifically, the Jags will need to fix the front four. If the Philadelphia Eagles proved anything in the Super Bowl, it is that football games are lost and won in the trenches.
The bottom line is that the Jacksonville Jaguars have their work cut out if they want to leave the cellar of the NFL, but the cupboard isn't bare.