JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — So much changed for the Jaguars at the halfway mark. It very much was like watching two very different teams play the first and second halves of the season. And in many ways, there’s some truth to that statement.
James Gladstone made the much-needed midseason acquisition for Jakobi Meyers that seemed to instantly spark a wavering Jaguars’ offense. While that certainly made a world of difference, credit has to go to Liam Coen and Grant Udinski’s midseason self-reflection as well.
It may have just saved the Jaguars’ 2025 season.
Through the first nine weeks, it very much felt like the Jaguars’ new staff and Trevor Lawrence were feeling themselves out. That goes for rookie Travis Hunter as well. The Jags were trying to force feed Hunter with designed plays because of just how dangerous he is with the ball in his hands.
Sadly, it just wasn’t working. After the Week 7 loss to the Rams, Jacksonville ranked near the top of the league in screen use, but dead last in completion rate. Sadly, that wouldn’t change either, as Lawrence finished the season 45th among the Top-45 quarterbacks in screen completion rate (70.8%).
From Weeks 1-9, Trevor Lawrence ranked 13th in Average Depth of Target (8.7), 20th in Time-to-Throw (2.80), and 6th in Screen % (14.2%). The Jaguars were 5-3, but the offense hadn’t yet put it all together. Even worse, injuries to Brian Thomas Jr and Travis Hunter further complicated things.
Insert the Jakobi Meyers trade and a little self-reflection. Throughout his ups and his downs, what is it that Trevor Lawrence has consistently done well? Throw the ball deep. As Liam Coen said following the Texans’ loss, “cut it loose and let it rip.”
And “let it rip” he did. From then on, Liam Coen and Grant Udinski seemingly changed the Jaguars’ offense overnight. The Jaguars abandoned a heavy-screen philosophy in favor of an offense that would attack defenses deep and over the middle. It was almost a complete 180 stylistically.
From Weeks 10-18, Lawrence ranked 4th in Average Depth of Target (10.4), 9th in Time-to-Throw (3.00), and 26th in Screen % (7.4%). The Jaguars’ screen use was essentially cut in half over the second half of the season.
Lawrence was attacking all areas of the field, holding onto the ball longer, making plays out of structure, and better yet, his deep ball had returned. Trevor Lawrence attempted deep balls (20+ yards) on just 11.6% of his attempts over the first half of the season. That figure jumped to 16.9% over the second half, third highest among QBs.
Lawrence just couldn’t seem to get the deep ball going early on, completing just 8 of 34 attempts over the course of the first half of the season. But in the second half, he was as deadly as ever, completing 20 of 45 for 578 yards. His 20 deep completions were tied for first over that period, while his yards ranked second.
So much can be attributed to the Jaguars’ midseason rise, but the humility and awareness from both the front office and coaching staff to recognize the team’s struggles and then immediately work to fix those issues are things that far too many are either too blind or too prideful to change. But that isn’t who this staff is.
>>> STREAM ACTION SPORTS JAX 24/7 LIVE <<<
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Click here to download the free Action News Jax apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action Sports Jax 24/7 live.
