The one thing that kept our fan base going throughout the miserable 2020 season is the idea that we could finally land our franchise QB when all was said and done.  Sure enough, when the Jets pulled off the late season upsets of the Rams and Browns, Jaguars fans suddenly were buoyed with hope.  The guy most pundits were saying was the best QB prospect to come out since Andrew Luck, and drew comparisons to John Elway was ours. 

However, he didn't show the progress we hoped to see in his rookie year due to a myriad of factors, most notably the disastrous coaching of Urban Meyer and the free agency neglect of Trent Baalke.

There have been some promising changes in thus far in 2022.  The era of Urban Blight is over, and replaced by offensive minded Doug Pederson-a proven NFL veteran coach who won the Super Bowl with the Eagles.  While Jaguars fans were disappointed that Baalke was not fired, and further disappointed by the lack of an EVP installed over him, Jaguars fans wound up pleasantly surprised to see the free agency expenditures during this free agency period, which featured Pro Bowl G Brandon Scherff, an actual receiving threat at TE in Evan Engram, and a slot receiver who can separate in Christian Kirk.

However, things have changed elsewhere in the AFC as well.  Recent highly drafted QBs like Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert have surpassed most of the expectations their fans had for them.  Denver traded for Russell Wilson, who has made two Super Bowls and is one of the best QBs in the game.  Deshaun Watson was considered among the best QBs in the game until last year, when his refusal to play for the Texans combined with off field allegations to lead to him not playing at all.  Once it was determined the Grand jury in Houston would not indict him on those allegations, it opened the door to trade him.  While it was thought in some circles the Texans would not trade him to a team in the AFC, it turns out Cleveland won the Watson sweepstakes after winnign Amari Cooper in a separate trade.  What's more, the Raiders wound up trading for WR Devante Adams, who has been the best WR in the game over the past few years.

As a result, the AFC QBs are very strong with some of their receiving targets.

Patrick Mahomes will throw to Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce
Russell Wilson will throw to Jerry Jeudy and Cortland Sutton
Justin Herbert has Keenan Allen and Mike Williams
Derek Carr has Devante Adams and Mike Waller
Lamar Jackson-Mark Andrews, Marquise Brown
Deshaun Watson has Amari Cooper and Donovan Peoples Jones
Joe Burrow-has Jamar Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd
Josh Allen has Stefan Diggs and Gabriel Davis
Mac Jones-Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith
Tua Tagoavila-Jaylen Waddle, Mike Gesicki
Mitch Trubisky-Dionte Johnson, Chase Claypool, Pat Friermuth
Ryan Tannehill has AJ Brown and Robert Woods
Zach Wilson has CJ Uzomah, Corey Davis and Moore
Davis Mills
with former top overall pick Baker Mayfield supposedly pushing for a trade to the Colts, who will have Michael Pittman and Mo Alie Cox

Given all of the changes outlined above, what are the reasonable expectations for Trevor Lawrence in year two?  More specifically. where do you think Lawrence will rank among these QBs by the end of the 2022 season?  What is the basis for your belief?

I maintain that even if the Jaguars nail this draft, and Pederson gives Lawrence the coaching he should have gotten his rookie year, Lawrence could make significant progress and still be middle of the pack of AFC QBs at best.  I think under those circumstances, some people would still argue that he is a bust, and I think that would be unreasonable.

Without knowing who the Jaguars will draft and what impact they will have, it's impossible to know how it'll play out, but as it stands now, as promising as this free agency period has been, can any of us say our receiving corps is at least in the middle of the AFC pack?

As always your thoughts are welcome.

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