The Jacksonville Jaguars still have yet to name first-round draft pick Trevor Lawrence as their starting quarterback. Many feel Lawrence is without question, already the starter. The Jaguars coaches are going to make the rookie earn that title.
The Jaguars currently carry four quarterbacks on their roster. They are Trevor Lawrence, Gardner Minshew, CJ Beathard, and Jake Luton. Minshew and Luton were both on the roster last season. They drafted Lawrence this offseason and Beathard was signed as a free agent. The Jaguars like what they have seen from him so far.
Minshew started the most games for the Jaguars last season. He was the only quarterback to lead the team to a victory. He was by far the best out of the three QB’s that played for them(Gardner Minshew, Jake Luton, Mike Glennon). He ended up throwing for 2259 yards, 16 touchdowns, and 5 interceptions.
The coaching staff got a chance to see second-year QB Jake Luton in live-action for three games last season. While his stats were not great, he did show some poise under center and that he is at least workable.
This year the entire depth chart order is up for grabs. Jaguars’ passing game coordinator told the media that they are building the best quarterback room they can when asked about the backup status of Gardner Minshew.
Well, again, I don’t agree 100 percent. We certainly haven’t named a starter. Our objective from Day 1 was to build the best quarterback room that we could. We knew what we had in Gardner. C.J. was a guy that we really looked at on field and we saw him make a lot of the plays and have some of the athleticism that we really, really like from our quarterbacks. Jake Luton was highly [thought] of last year, I know we really like him in Seattle when he came out. And then of course you get a chance to add a Trevor Lawrence to the mix, you’re going to do that. But we’re not in a position where we’re saying hey, ‘[No.] 1, 2, 3, 4.’
Brian Schottenheimer to media Wednesday (NFL.com)
They are giving all four QBs reps and an equal opportunity to showcase what they can do. This isn’t going to be handed to anyone because of opinions outside of Jacksonville.
Schottenheimer continued:
We’re letting them all roll. Everybody’s getting reps. We want this thing to be really competitive. Ultimately, when we name a starter, we’ll name a starter. And Urban will do that when he’s ready. But I’ve just enjoyed watching these guys compete. Like I said, from Gardner’s standpoint, he’s an alpha. He’s got leadership ability; you love that. C.J.’s come in here, he’s had to catch up with some of the system stuff because some of the verbiage here stayed the same with coach [offensive line coach George] Warhop staying. And then of course Jake has just been a guy, probably the least amount of reps, but every time he’s been out there, he’s been moved the team and he’s done things where we’re like, ‘Wow, that’s really great.’ I’m thrilled with where we are right now as a quarterback room. It’s still too early to say how this thing’s going to play out.
While it is still likely that Trevor Lawrence is the starter in week one. He will at least be able to say that he didn’t have anything handed to him.
The Jaguars look to get back on track after winning only one game last year. This poor season comes just a few years after making it one game short of the Super Bowl in 2017.
The Jaguars play the Houston Texans in week 1 of the regular season. NFL fans await to see what many believe will be the debut of Trevor Lawrence. That is after he earns the starting job.
