3 changes the Jaguars must make to steer the ship in the right direction

The Jacksonville Jaguars must do some serious soul-searching following the humiliating Week 3 loss to the Buffalo Bills. Currently, they're 0-3 and the 2024 season will slip through their fingers unless they implement significant changes in the upcoming weeks.

You could make the case that things aren't nearly as bad as they seem but head coach Doug Pederson himself admitted this is a bad Jaguars team. For proof, look at the league's rankings. They rank 30th in points allowed and 28th in points surrendered. Moreover, they lost two a pair of teams, the Cleveland Browns and the Miami Dolphins, that are far from contenders.

This begs the question, how can Jacksonville steer the ship in the right direction? The next three moves would most definitely help.

The Jaguars must bench Cam Robinson and Brandon Scherff

One of the reasons the Jags have struggled to move the ball and put points on their scoreboard is their offensive line's inability to pass protect or open lanes in the running game. Travis Etienne and Tank Bigsby, for their part, deserve plenty of praise for churning out extra yards. On the other hand, Trevor Lawrence has had trouble finding rhythm because he gets subpar protection up front.

Granted, Lawrence's decision-making has been far from great, but his offensive line isn't helping him much. In three games, they've given up 14 sacks and 19 hits. You will be hard-pressed to find a quarterback who'll thrive in the same situation.

Going back to the Jags' hog mollies, they're struggling. Some of it it's poor coaching but a few of them aren't playing great. Left tackle Cam Robinson and right guard are the biggest culprits.

Robinson has been a liability at left tackle, giving up four sacks and 13 games in three starts. Scherff hasn't fared much better, surrendering five pressures and posting a Pro Football Focus overall grade of 52.9.

The team's brass could've moved on from either one or both in the offseason and created cap space in the process. They instead kept both, which doesn't currently look like a great decision. If Jacskonville wants to give Lawrence better protection, they should then bench Robinson and Scheff.

This is doable when you take into account that they have Walker Little and Cooper Hodges in place. They can replace Robinson and Scherff, respectively. It would also help the team evaluate them and see if either one is part of the solution moving forward. If they aren't, the Jags can then address both positions in free agency or the draft next year.

The Jaguars must give more playing time to their best D-Linemen

Most teams employ a rotation on the defensive line to keep players fresh. It also helps them find better matchups against the run and the pass. From that perspective, it makes sense that the Jags are giving different players in the trenches plenty of snaps. Having said that, they must change their approach and keep their best four for most of the time.

In the loss to the Browns, Tyler Lacy and Jeremiah Ledbetter got the starting nod. Nothing against either one, but both of them are rotational pieces. Add the fact that second-round pick Maason Smith currently has a reserve role and defensive lineman Arik Armstead is cosplaying as an edge defender, and it's easy to see why Jacksonville is being pushed around.

Moving forward, the coaching staff must stop experimenting and make Travon Walker and Josh Hines-Allen their top edge rushers. Similarly, Armstead is at his best inside, why have him line up outside? Also, Smith needs to get more reps. That's the only he'll get better.

The Jaguars must fire Press Taylor and Phil Rauscher

One day after the loss to the Bills, Doug Pederson told the local media that he was considering making tweaks. However, he said that he wasn't planning to make any changes to the coaching staff. He should reconsider his decision, as Press Taylor and Phil Rauscher have vastly underperformed at their respective job.

Taylor is the offensive coordinator, but it's unknown if he's calling plays. It doesn't matter. His unit isn't delivering.

Dating back to his days with the Philadelphia Eagles, Pederson has shown unreasonable fealty toward Taylor. Things haven't changed much in Jacksonville with the head coach consistently going to bat for his offensive coordinator. He must cut ties if he wants to keep his job and turn things around.

By removing Taylor from the equation, Pederson can showcase one of his biggest strenghts as a coach, which is calling plays on offense. On the other hand, Rauscher must also go.

Even though the Jaguars have spared no expenses to beef up the offensive line, the group is among the worst in the league. They rank near the cellar in both pass protection and run blocking. Plenty of the blame falls on Rauscher.

After all, the offensive line lacks discipline and technique, two things the coach must put an emphasis on. Rauscher isn't doing it.

By kicking Rauscher and Taylor to the curb the Jaguars would show that coaches, like players, are being held to high standards. Based on the outcome of the past three games, it doesn't look like Pederson is doing it.

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