JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — First-year head coach Liam Coen, with an assist from general manager James Gladstone, has followed through on one of the things he said the Jacksonville Jaguars needed to do this offseason: help quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
After signing a receiver, two tight ends, and four offensive linemen in free agency, the Jaguars drafted five more offensive players last week — including receiver/defensive back Travis Hunter, who was regarded as the best player available.
Coen believes he and Gladstone have the pieces in place to meet the goal of making Lawrence and the offense as “explosive and dynamic as we can be,” a goal Coen made during his introductory news conference.
“We’ve definitely addressed the ability to strike from a distance,” Coen said. “I think that that’s something that we just struggled to do a little bit in Tampa [last season when he was the offensive coordinator] where you ended up having to go 10-, 12-play drives a lot. It was efficient, right, but ultimately, you’re looking to be as explosive as you can in both the run and the pass.
“That was definitely addressed in both pro free agency and the college draft landscape. Don’t think we have to add any more at this point.”
Receiver Brian Thomas Jr. was the only dynamic player the Jaguars had as a building block, especially after the team traded receiver Christian Kirk and released tight end Evan Engram in March. He was also the Jaguars’ only playmaker last season (Kirk and Engram missed a combined 17 games with injuries).
Thomas — whose 1,282 receiving yards was third in the NFL and a franchise rookie record — had 18 catches of 20 or more yards (eighth in the NFL) and seven catches of 40 or more yards. The latter was just one shy of Ja’Marr Chase’s NFL lead.
Hunter, whom the Jaguars drafted second overall after trading up from No. 5, was a big-play threat last season at Colorado with 16 catches of 20 or more yards, which was tied with Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan (No. 8 overall pick) for the second most in FBS. Hunter also had 15 touchdown catches, which tied for second in FBS, and five of those catches came on vertical routes. All of which he did while also playing on defense and averaging 113.9 snaps per game.
Lining up Hunter opposite Thomas should be a problem for defenses and, in turn, create opportunities for big plays, Coen said. Hunter hopes so, too, and he’s planning on trying to learn as much from Thomas as possible.
“He will be big for me. He did a great job his rookie season,” Hunter said after being drafted. “I’ve got a lot to improve on myself. So, I’m going to ask him a lot of questions. He’ll probably get annoyed because I’m going to ask so many questions.
“I want to be the best. I want to be better than him. So, I’m going to try to soak up all the knowledge that he allows me to take from him.”
The Jaguars also added big-play potential in the backfield by drafting running back Bhayshul Tuten in the fourth round. Tuten had five runs of 40 or more yards last season at Virginia Tech. He had 14 runs of 25 or more yards in his two seasons with the Hokies.
Those two draft picks complement receiver Dyami Brown, who signed a one-year deal in free agency. Brown had 30 catches for the Washington Commanders last season but 14 came in the last five games. He also had 14 catches for 229 yards and averaged 16.4 yards per catch in three playoff games. His 229 receiving yards were second most by any player in the postseason.
Adding Hunter, Tuten and Brown — as well as running back LeQuint Allen (seventh round) and tight ends Hunter Long and Johnny Mundt in free agency — gives Lawrence a significantly different set of pass catchers than he had the past two seasons.
The big-play potential of Thomas and Hunter, in particular, seems to play into Lawrence’s strengths.
In his three seasons at Clemson (2018-20), Lawrence went 46-for-126 for 1,968 yards and 22 touchdowns on throws that traveled 25 or more yards in the air. Those ranked in the top six in the FBS over that span, and the only quarterback with more touchdown passes was North Carolina’s Sam Howell (23).
Lawrence has completed 27.6% of his 105 throws of 25 or more air yards for 1,217 yards and 7 touchdowns with 7 interceptions in his past three seasons with the Jaguars. That’s, in part, because he ranks 27th among quarterbacks in time before passing on those throws (3.36 seconds).
And that’s why upgrading the offensive line, particularly the interior, was also a major focus in the offseason. Center Robert Hainsey and guard Patrick Mekari were signed to be starters, and Chuma Edoga and Fred Johnson, both of whom have played guard and tackle in their careers, were brought in for depth.
Drafting tackle Wyatt Milum, whom the Jaguars will move to guard, in the second round and center Jonah Monheim, who has played all three positions, in the seventh completes the offensive line additions.
The goal is to improve the run game (the Jaguars’ 70.2% run block win rate ranked 25th) as well as the pass blocking (58.6% pass block win rate ranked 19th), which will help the offense be more productive.
And, if everything goes the way Coen believes, they’ll be more explosive and dynamic.
“You are always trying to add competition and playmakers,” Coen said. “There’s so many schemes that you can devise and execute, and ultimately when you have players that can win on their own and do something with the ball on their own, I can’t really coach that. Coordinators can’t really coach for that. Ultimately, you’re looking for players, can they win on their own, and can they impact our offense in that way?
“That is what we were looking to do in so many ways.”
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