NFL talking head makes the case that Jaguars HC Doug Pederson is vastly overlooked

Talking head Emmanuel Acho of FS1 has previously shared several puzzling takes on the Jacksonville Jaguars and Trevor Lawrence. More recently, though, he said that head coach Doug Pederson is severely overlooked and deserves a higher spot among his peers in power rankings.

Acho was part of a roundtable on Speak. He argued that Pederson deserves a high spot in head coach rankings, citing his Super Bowl ring with the Philadelphia Eagles as a reason.

"My biggest issue with the list, my biggest issue, Doug Pederson, entirely too low," Acho said. "When you talk about best coaches currently in the National Football League, if I see Doug Pederson at No. 16, I'm thinking that's asinine. I, in all honesty and authenticity, would put Doug Pederson at No. 4. I would put Andy Reid. I would put Sean McVay, I would put Kyle Shanahan, I would put Doug Pederson."

Acho continued, "I would suggest to you that what Doug Pet¡derson has done in his coaching tenure since 2016 is just as impressive as any coach not named Andy Reid Again when you think about... Acho, What about Mike Tomlin? What about this person, what about that person? I would suggest to you, Doug Pederson has won a Super Bowl more recently than Mike Tomlin has won a playoff game."

"Well, actually, what about Sean McVay? I won't even argue Sean McVay. Put Sean McVay ahead of Doug Pederson, but Doug Pederson won a Super Bowl with a third-round pick in Nick Foles. He lost the starting quarterback, lost the starting running back, Darren Sproles. Lost his starting left tackle, future Hall of Famer, Jason Peters. Lost the starting middle linebacker in Jordan Hicks."

"Then, Doug Pederson left the Eagles went to the Jags, and after Trevor Lawrence was in the midst of utter turmoil and chaos. They were 3-14, instantly takes them to the playoffs, not just to the playoffs. Beats Justin Herbert, who everybody wanted to herald as one of the greatest quarterbacks. came back from down 28-0 so when I think about the top issues with the list, it's not having Doug Pederson as one of the top coaches.

For the sake of clarity, the Jaguars came back from a 27-point deficit, not 28-0, to beat the Los Angeles Chargers in the Wild Card Round of the 2022 playoffs.

Going back to Pederson, he originally landed at No. 16 in the head coach rankings. Andy Reid got the top spot. Kyle Shannahan finished second while Sean McVay and John Harbaugh popped up at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively.

During his five-year stint with the Philadelphia Eagles, Pederson made the playoffs three times and helped them win Super Bowl 52. However, he resigned after the 2020 over a disagreement in the changes he wanted to make to the coaching staff.

Following a one-year hiatus, Doug P became the head coach for the Jags. They made the playofffs and won the AFC South in his first season at the helm. Then in 2023, Jacksonville finished 9-7, their second straight winning season, but failed to qualify for the postseason.

Now, the Jaguars are under pressure to win. They're currently flying under the radar after their late-season collapse. However, internal expectations are at an all-time high after all the heavy commitments owner Shad Khan made to the team in the offseason. Here's the full discussion in case you want to give it a look.

Jaguars HC Doug Pederson must steer the ship in the right direction in 2024

Winning Super Bowl 52 is without a doubt the biggest highlight in Doug Pederson's career. That said, that was with a different franchise seven years ago. In a sport where players and coaches are judged based on their most recent achievements, bringing up his championship in Philly to make the case he's one of the top head coaches in the NFL doesn't make much sense.

it's true that Pederson has the Jaguars trending in the right direction. You could even make the case that the 2023 season was just a speed bump. On the other hand, he must prove he can get Jacksonville over the hump.

The Jaguars don't have to necessarily win Super Bowl 59 to consider 2024 a success, but Pederson must prove they can bounce back from an underwhelming season. Fortunately for him, Trevor Lawrence is healthy again, and general manager Trent Baalke made upgrades to both sides of the ball. Moreover, the defense should experience a noticeable improvement with Ryan Nielsen at the helm.

Regarding Acho, even a broken clock is right twice a day. He previously said that Trevor Lawrence only got a monster extension because of what he did at Clemson, which is not the soundest football take. And while it's great to see him make a case for Doug Pederson to have a higher spot among his peers, his argument doesn't carry much weight.

The bottom line is that Doug Pederson, and the Jaguars will move up in power rankings if they win in 2024. For the time being, it's hard to justify giving them a high spot.

More Jaguars analysis here: