The Jacksonville Jaguars have done enough in 2023 to be brought up when discussing the top teams in NFL. They're currently sitting on a five-game winning streak, and their 6-2 record to start the season is the best one they've posted since 1999. If that wasn't enough, they're the only team that remains undefeated on the road heading into Week 10.
That said, there's plenty of football left in 2023 and the Jags will have their work cut out if they want to finish strong. For example, their 2-2 record at home isn't one to brag about. Also, there are other equally talented clubs in the AFC, who are vying for a playoff berth, so they cannot afford to take the foot off the gas pedal just yet. With that in mind, here are three questions surrounding Jacksonville in the second half of the season.
3. Will the Jacksonville Jaguars get more production from their 2023 draft class?
The Jags didn't have many open starting jobs in the offseason, so they took the best-player available route throughout most of the draft. The downside to that approach is that they haven't gotten much production out of their rookie class.
Besides right tackle Anton Harrison, who's progressively gotten better, none of the Jaguars' early picks have gotten significant playing time. Some of this is due to the fact that tight end Brenton Strange (Round 2), Tank Bigsby (Round 3), and Tyler Lacy (Round 4) are behind established starters on the depth chart.
Having said that, they would all see the field more often if they took advantage of their limited opportunities. So far, that hasn't happened. Take Bigsby for example, he hasn't made any big plays and has instead made several puzzling mistakes. Similarly, Strange has excelled as a blocker but hasn't done much as a pass catcher.
The good news is that the Jaguars don't need their rookie class to contribute right now but if injuries hit, * knock on wood * will they be able to produce?
2. Can the Jaguars improve their offensive efficiency in 2023?
The Jaguars' offense is stacked with talent, starting with Trevor Lawrence at quarterback. Their wide receiver corps is among the best in the league and Travis Etienne is the spark that gets their running game going. Their offensive line, for their part, has done a good job of keeping Lawrence's jersey clean and opening holes for Etienne.
But in spite of all the talent the Jaguars possess on offense, their production leaves a bit to be desired. Make no mistake, they can move the ball an put points on the scoreboard. They rank 10th in points scored and a respectable 14th in total yards in the NFL. However, they could do much better. In particular, they must stop turning the ball over and improve their efficiency once they cross the middle of the field.
Three of the Jaguars' 13 turnovers have come in the end zone and their 47.6 percent success rate ranks 26th in the league. Similarly, their 35.5 percent rate in third down is a supbar 25th in the league. The good news is that offensive coordinator Press Taylor konws these are issues the team must work on.
"I think we have eight turnovers when we're inside our field goal range," Taylor told the media Wednesday when discussing areas where the offense needs to improve. "So worst case scenario the drive stalls out, we end up kicking field goals with a really good kicker. Those points are critical for us and instead we've given the football away and given away opportunities to score."
"So that's our biggest concern. And then we need to be better in short yardage. We need to be better in four minutes situations which we've had a lot more of. We need to be better. There's a lot of areas we continue to need to improve on," Taylor said.
1. Are the Jaguars good enough to take on other potential playoff teams?
The Jaguars deserve credit for going 4-0 on the road this season. They played two games in London. They then traveled to New Orleans to take on the Saints and beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh just one week later. On the other hand, they weren't nearly as successful at home. They lost to the Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans in back-to-back weeks and one of their two wins at home was in London.
So not only will the Jaguars play better at home but they'll also have to face several playoff hopefuls, starting with the San Francisco 49ers in Week 10. They will then play consecutive division games against the Tenneesse Titans and the Houston Texans before embarking on a three-week stretch that will feature the Baltimore Ravens, the Cincinnati Bengals and the Cleveland Browns.
With exception of maybe the Titans, all these clubs stack up favorably against the Jags. The 49ers have enough talent on both sides of the ball to end a three-game losing streak when they face the Jags in Week 10. Houston, for their part, has flashed throughout the season and will have a chance as long as rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud is under center.
However, the three toughest teams remaining on the Jaguars' schedule are Baltimore, the Browns and Cincy. All of them are competing for the AFC North crowd and could make a run of the No. 1 seed in the conference. Can the Jaguars go toe-to-toe with all of them? We'll soon find out and the outcome will reveal with kind of team they truly are in 2023.