2024 Jacksonville Jaguars

Freethinker

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The Jags are always one of the last teams to be previewed because they are just plain dull. Never "White friendly" nor ultra black (at least since the Black Jack Del Rio days), the Jaguars just represent mediocrity or worse. It starts at the top with billionaire owner Shad Khan (Paki). Last year fans posted to social media photos of TV screens within the Jags stadium that were dark with a message from DirectTV to pay the bill. LOL. Shad Khan is blamed for spending too much time focusing on overseas expansion, while son and "Chief Football Strategy Officer" Tony, spends all of his time running his passion project wrestling company AEW. Both the Jaguars and AEW are run poorly (see failing tv ratings and decreased ticket sales over the last 2 years for the latter), and Tony Khan is such a clown that he showed up at the NFL Draft this year in a neck brace. This was part of his wrestling storyline involving a heel (bad guy) faction attacking and injuring him. On the purely football side, GM Trent Baalke has had pretty standard Caste Teams with the 49ers during the Harbaugh years and with the Jags since 2020. Winning seasons have also not come with any regularity.

QB - Trevor Lawrence, Mac Jones
TE - Luke Farrell
C - Mitch Morse, Luke Fortner
G - Brandon Scherff, Ezra Cleveland, Cooper Hodges
T - Cole Van Lanen, Walker Little

WLB - Chad Muma

Special Teams - K Cam Little, P Logan Cooke, LS Ross Matiscik

IR (to return): Andrew Wingard (S)
PS: John Rhys Plumlee (QB), Louis Rees-Zammit (RB/WR), Austin Trammell (WR), Josiah Deguara (TE), Blake Hance (OL), Joe Gaziano (DE), Tanner Muse (LB)

Total current White starters: 4
Total Whites currently on 53-man roster: 14
Overall grade: F

A small dip from last year but pretty much more of the same. It seems like Baalke and HC Doug Peterson allow White QBs and offensive lineman with a few tokens here or there. No interest in defenders really or skill players (on the active roster at least). This team will be an easy one to mostly ignore.

Talented young QB Trevor Lawrence enters year 4 coming off a somewhat disappointing season. Frankly I'm annoyed that TLaw has not elevated to a star yet and I'm not sure who deserves the blame. Is it bad coaching and supporting cast? Is Lawrence not putting in the work or actually overrated? I think that Lawrence does not use his athletic ability enough. For example, some designed runs or more scrambles when the pocket breaks down might do him some good to keep the defense honest. I'm hoping he picks it up in week 3 and breaks out, as the talent, arm strength and athleticism is there. Maybe part of the problem is no reliable White players to throw the ball to other than a seldom used 3rd TE. His college teammate Hunter Renfrow could be signed at anytime but I guess the "braintrust" is happy with the mediocre wideouts on the depth chart. The offensive line is also no great shakes. Looking at ratings websites, they seem to rank in the bottom 3rd. Mitch Morse is the new center who was brought over from Buffalo to help. Guard Ezra Cleveland came over last year in a rare in-season trade. Brandon Scherff has been a standout guard his whole career, but the 2015 draft pick is getting up there in age. I don't watch the Jags enough to know how well he's playing lately. Mac Jones is well know around here as an example of Bill Belichick's failure as a part of the awful post-Brady Pats. Hopefully he can learn and develop as a backup for a year or 2 and get a future starting chance similar to Sam Darnold.

On defense, young linebacker Chad Muma is all alone. He performed really well when he started a number of games in his rookie year but now its seems he is firmly behind starters Lloyd and Oluokun (who both have talent). Since the Jags rarely use a 3rd linebacker, don't expect much in terms of defensive snaps this year unless an injury occurs. Ironically the only other defender who will grace this roster is also a graduate from University of Wyoming, Andrew Wingard. The WSTD, who occasionally gets to play some safety but only when a "superior" black player is hurt, starts his 6th season with Jacksonville on the 'designated to return' IR. I'd wish for him to be set free for a chance with another team, but sadly it could be that the Jags are keeping his NFL career afloat. I guess a 6 or 7 figure paycheck for him each year is better than nothing.

The practice squad is surprisingly interesting with alot of talented White players. I won't hold my breath that this Caste Organization will ever give any of them a fair shake. John Rhys Plumlee is an athletic freak and speed demon who burst onto the scene as a freshman at Ole Miss. Some Caste stooge took over (Kiffin?) and the quarterback was relegated to backup WR. After transferring to UCF for his final 2 seasons, he was able to reestablish himself as a premier dual threat QB. I don't think he's a NFL level QB (but neither are Justin Fields, Malik Willis, Anthony Richardson and others) but I would be excited if he ever got the chance. More realistically, I'm hoping a team will use him as an offensive weapon who can line up at QB, WR, RB or kick returner in a similar manner to Taysom Hill. Louis Rees-Zammit is a Welch rugby player trying to make the switch to American football. In his prime (23), and equipped with amazing speed and athleticism, it will be interesting if LRZ will pickup the game enough to get a shot. The Chiefs were using him as a RB and he got caught in a numbers game, likely due to the emergence of Carson Steele. Austin Trammell is a WR who played a bit last year with the Rams. The 4 through 6 receivers on the active roster are really unimpressive, yet Trammell couldn't make it. Such is the life for a White WR. LB Tanner Muse was a teammate of TLaw at Clemson. The former safety is plenty athletic for linebacker but has never really gotten a shot in the NFL yet. He bounces from team to team so any of these stops could be his last.

The Jags would be more interesting if their PS players cracked the 53, so I'll keep an eye on that. Otherwise this is a run of the mill Caste squad, that likely won't be very good (0-2 start).
 

Don Wassall

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Nice detailed write-up. This has been an unlikeable organization ever since Tom Coughlin left. The Jags in their early days were easily the most successful expansion team ever, going to the AFC championship game in their second season in 1996 and then again in their fifth season in '99. They had around 9 and 10 White starters in those days. Ironically, Coughlin became a Caste Clown after he left Jax.

Black Jack Del Rio was the pits. He and the "locker room" yelling at Matt Jones because he wasn't "extroverted" enough to fit in. White NFL players are expected to mimic their Black peers at least somewhat when it comes to celebrations and other on-field antics, which is why Kelce, Clay Matthews and others have thrived when others haven't. Joe Schobert was a tackling machine but was another Jag who didn't fit the desired mold and was discarded by the team and then was finished after one season in Pittsburgh.

Chad Muma was 2022's version of Payton Wilson, the best linebacker in the draft but who lasted until the third round. He went to the worst possible team ala some of the White RBs we've detailed as the same year Jax drafted another LB in the first round and also signed Foyesade Oluokun, a Black tackling machine. He'll need to play out his rookie contract and see if another team will give him a chance to start, but by then he'll be regarded as a chronic underachiever and career back-up.

Wingard certainly proved he was good enough to start but never will except when injuries strike. And Tanner Muse, screwed by Gruden and has bounced around ever since. Trammell, same story, and hope I'm wrong but I don't see Rees-Zammit ever getting a legit chance in the NFL, at least not with Jacksonville.
 

Freethinker

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