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Written by: Nicholas Mullick
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-mullick-354076184/
Well, it is official the Jacksonville Jaguars are now mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. This to me was not a surprise as the Titans and the Colts are in the division. There are many issues and reasons why the Jaguars did not make the playoffs but I decided to narrow the reasons as this is my second favorite team in the NFL. So let's get into it and take a look at the 3 main reasons why the Jaguars were eliminated from the playoffs.
So let's get into it and take a look at the 3 main reasons why the Jaguars were eliminated from the playoffs.
1. Poor moves made during the offseason and trade deadline
One of the main issues that have plagued the Jaguars is the poor moves that they made during free agency and the trade deadline. I will start with the offseason as excluding CB Shaquill Griffin and WR Marvin Jones (Excluding the argument with Urban Meyer and oh we will get to him later) the Jaguars did not do well investing during the offseason. They overpaid WR/ST Jamal Agnew, James O'Shaughnessy has not done much due to injuries, Rayshawn Jenkins has been inconsistent, and etc. It is not just that as the Jaguars for some reason decided to give up on a Top 10 pick CB CJ Henderson and traded him to Carolina for a 3rd round pick and TE Dan Arnold who is a scrub tight end. Talk about wasting a top 10 pick am I right. The Jaguars have to make better moves during the offseason to get better.
2. Coaching
No question with this reasoning here. Coaching has been a big reason why the Jaguars did not make the playoffs this year. I knew Urban Meyer was going to be a disaster here but I did not know that he would be this bad as a head coach in the NFL. Honestly, I am shocked that the Jaguars kept him after Week 5 against the Bengals after Jon Gruden had his fall from grace in the NFL. But lucky for him, he is still in the NFL and became a locker room distraction for this team. It is never a good sign when a leader is a distraction to the culture of the team and locker room. What also does not help is the questionable coaching moves that he has made this entire season. Remember the way he utilized James Robinson earlier in the season. To me, it showed Urban is not a fan of him at all when the team drafted Travis Etienne. But he got injured so Urban decided to utilize Carlos Hyde more than Robinson which is ridiculous. Heck, he even forgot to give rookie S Andre Cisco snaps in the latest game. But with this latest incident with Urban Meyer, I would be shocked if he is the head coach next season. The news came out that he threw many assistant coaches and WR Marvin Jones under the bus. Plus publicly argued with them in practice and even called the coaches losers. Really Urban, blame the assistants for your troubles. This goes to show that he will never evolve or change his ways to fix the culture of the locker room. I would be shocked if he coaches the Jaguars in the 2022 season and goes back to coaching in the NCAA in the future.
3. All a part of the Rebuild
This season was not going to go well for the Jaguars as they had little to no expectations for the season. But this season is a step for their rebuild to see what works and what does not with their franchise QB Trevor Lawrence. Lawrence has had a disappointing season but there is plenty to like about what they did. I mean at least Laviska Shenault improved and the team properly utilized RB James Robinson. The Jaguars defense still needs a ton of work and with their rebuild, they should have a top pick where they use it to rebuild their defense. Now they know the parts that don't work (Hopefully if the team does the right thing and fires Urban Meyer at the end of the season), it is now time to take the next step. The goal should be to get more than 8 wins or playoffs next season and if they don’t then it will be another disappointing season for the Jaguars.