NFL teams most likely to go from worst to first in 2021

NFL teams to watch out for in 2021: Jacksonville Jaguars

4. Jacksonville Jaguars

It may seem crazy to have a team that just picked number one overall in the draft this high already, but this roster was further along than people gave it credit for. They have brought in a lot of young, talented players these last few years, new head coach Urban Meyer is taking over control of the organization, changing some of the things they do in terms of the way they work and how they try to gain advantages schematically on a weekly basis.

They now have one of the best quarterback prospects we’ve ever seen come out of college. If the Titans didn’t just trade for Julio Jones, the Jaguars would be comfortable, considering how Derrick Henry has humiliated this team in the past.

However, we did see them give the Colts a tough time in (and win one of) their two matchups this past season, and Carson Wentz has plenty to clean up from what we saw during the end of his time in Philly. With the Deshaun Watson-less Texans in the division, the Jaguars should at least double their win total from a year ago (which stood at one of course).

Just in case you forgot what the @Jaguars' new QB1 is capable of on a football field… @Trevorlawrencee | @ClemsonFB pic.twitter.com/NPksy4gpbZ

— NFL (@NFL) July 7, 2021

What to expect from the Jacksonville Jaguars

In terms of what we’ll see from this Jaguars squad, expect them to have a new wave of energy, with all the things we hear coming out of Jacksonville, and the coaching should see major improvement.

Meyer always likes to work closely with his quarterbacks, where it should be a very smooth transition for Lawrence to run the Darrell Bevell offense, which will look more like what it was intended to be, until Matt Patricia and his group in Detroit kind of forced more heavy personnel and focus on the run game on his OC.

Under Meyer, we should see a spread-oriented offense, although you could expect to see the quarterback primarily keep the ball on simple zone-read plays, and have the complimentary group of receivers in D.J. Chark and Marvin Jones allowing Lawrence to shine with those deep balls along the sideline and then Laviska Shenault as the YAC monster in-between the numbers, to go with a dynamic one-two punch out of the backfield.

The defense may still have plenty of growing to do, but it’s now loaded, signing Shaq Griffin from Seattle and using pick number 33 of the draft on Georgia’s Tyson Campbell, to go with another top-ten pick in C.J. Henderson from a year ago. Myles Jack is coming back from injury, as one of the most dynamic linebackers in the league, and second-round safety Andre Cisco from Syracuse is the exact type of playmaker to move them out of the bottom-five in takeaways.

Dude, how quickly Myles Jack gets on his horse to cover Drew Sample in time to steal away the INT on this play is absurd. pic.twitter.com/dzIVtalMjj

— Austin Gayle (@PFF_AustinGayle) October 7, 2020

Week 1 at Houston could already be a major confidence-booster for this group, as they might immediately end that 15-game losing streak and then they get to stay home for four out of the five following games, until the bye week, with a trip to Cincinnati being the only exception – which should at least be a winnable game.

The Titans are the only team of that group that was in the playoffs last year and while they do face a good Dolphins squad at the end of it, the Jags get to host them in London, which might give them more of a home-field advantage than playing in Jacksonville, as they’ve had some of their most brilliant performances in recent years overseas.

It certainly gets tougher from that point on, but outside of 4:30 kickoffs at Seattle and L.A. (Rams), they always play at 1:00 pm, where some of those playoff-contending teams may be overlooking them to some degree, and after that trip to the Northeast right after their bye, they have just one West Coast trip remaining.

Chance: 10-15 percent