You will be hard-pressed to find someone who legitimately believes the Jacksonville Jaguars are Super Bowl-bound. After all, they're coming off an underwhelming season and have a rookie head coach in Liam Coen. This is to say that it may take time for the Jags to be good. Then again, Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report believes they have a shot, an extremely long one, but a shot nonetheless.
Gagnon recently discussed the odds teams who didn't make the playoffs last season have of reaching the Super Bowl in 2025. Regarding the Jags, he doesn't think they're hopeless, citing the presence of Trevor Lawrence and the overall level of talent in the roster as a couple of reasons for optimism.
"The presence of Trevor Lawrence and decent overall roster talent has them in the middle of the pack, even if this doesn't remotely feel like a competitive team on either side of the ball."
For context, Gagnon put together three tiers: No chance in hell, extreme long shots, and there's a path. You can guess which is why. The Jags landed in the middle of the pack. Other teams with similar odds of playing on Super Sunday are the Atlanta Falcons, the New York Jets, the Arizona Cardinals, and the Seattle Seahawks. Jacksonville ranked eighth among all 18 non-playoff clubs from last year.
Why should the Jaguars feel optmistic about their chances in 2025?
Let's get it out of the way. The bar is really low for the Jacksonville Jaguars after failing to make the playoffs the last two seasons and going 5-19 in the last 24 games. That's not the kind of record that comes to mind when you think of a division champion, let alone a Super Bowl contender. On the other hand, the cupboard isn't bare.
Sure, Liam Coen has no experience as a head coach, and he'll experience the bumps and bruises that come with learning on the fly. That said, he turned the Tampa Bay Buccaneers into an offensive juggernaut, having fixed their running game and helping quarterback Baker Mayfield have a career season.
Coincidentally, the Jaguars' rushing attack could use a boost and Trevor Lawrence is in dire need of coaching.
Jacksonville has a dynamic backfield tandem in Tank Bigsby and Travis Etienne, but their offensive line couldn't hold their blocks and open lanes. Coen will fix that with his scheme and by working in unison with the next general manager to beef up the trenches in the offseason.
On the other hand, Lawrence regressed last season. Leaving aside how good or bad his supporting cast was in 2024, his mechanics weren't always great. Inadequate coaching was partly to blame for it.
Of course, Coen's expertise is on offense, and he'll now have to lead a full team. Working in his favor is that he won't have to do it alone. He's putting together an intriguing staff full of young talent, and for the defense, he hired Anthony Campanile, who's had success in his stops with the Miami Dolphins and the Green Bay Packers.
Like Coen, Campanile is holding a new position for the first time in his coaching career, but there's doubt that he can steer the ship in the right direction.
Will that be enough to make it to the Super Bowl? Probably not, but at least, the Jacksonville Jaguars seemed to be headed in the right direction after taking several steps backward the past two years.