Jacksonville Jaguars: Not so fast, Gardner Minshew may be franchise QB

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew is fighting hard for his future on the team.

The Jacksonville Jaguars were expected by most to be one of, if not the, worst teams in the entire NFL this season. Their moves over the past year or so have pointed towards a rebuild for the team and they entered the 2020 season with obvious flaws on both sides of the ball. That being said, forget about the tank talk. The Jacksonville Jaguars are here to play, and their 27-20 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday was incredibly impressive.

Quarterback Gardner Minshew was rock-solid in this game, completing 19-of-20 passes for 173 yards and three touchdowns. He did not turn the ball over in this game.

While those numbers are not eye-popping, Minshew did a fantastic job of consistently taking what the defense gave him and making plays when his team needed him to the most. Minshew does not have the biggest arm, but he is a smart player who shows impressive accuracy to all fields and can create a bit with his legs. He is also a nice improviser who can make plays in tough moments.

Nearly everybody in the draft community, myself included, has been predicting the Jacksonville Jaguars to pick high in the 2021 NFL Draft and snag a new franchise quarterback. Whether they get in position to land Trevor Lawrence, or snag Justin Fields or Trey Lance, sticking a quarterback in Jacksonville has consistently happened in most early mock drafts. That being said, Gardner Minshew continues to impress and may quickly make those early mocks look ridiculous.

Minshew was a sixth-round selection by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2019 NFL Draft. He was not on many people’s radar throughout the draft process, but he performed well last preseason and won the Jags’ backup job. After starter Nick Foles suffered an injury in Week 1, the Jags were forced to turn to Minshew and he was much better than anybody expected.

The Jaguars bounced back and forth between Minshew and Foles through most of the season, but Minshew showed enough to allow the Jags to turn to him for 2020. He is clearly the guy for Jacksonville this season and has a full opportunity to cement himself as the franchise quarterback for this team.

While one good game does not mean that there is no chance that Jacksonville makes a change at quarterback next season, Gardner Minshew continues to play well and needs to be taken seriously. The Jacksonville Jaguars are unlikely to be a great football team this season, but if Minshew plays well enough to make them competitive, it would be tough to make a change at the position next offseason.

For now, Minshew is the guy in Jacksonville and if he keeps playing like this, he will continue to be the guy going forward.