The Jacksonville Jaguars spent big money this offseason to bring in Super Bowl champion Nick Foles. Foles then proceeded to break his clavicle in the first game, and they turned to rookie Gardner Minshew. Nothing went well for the Jacksonville Jaguars, from a real-life standpoint. However, we had some positive developments in the fantasy football landscape that we need to remember as we go into the 2020 offseason.
What to Remember from the 2019 Jacksonville Jaguars Season
- First and foremost, D.J. Chark. Chark, a mostly-forgotten sophomore player turned in a huge breakout season. He did this despite the multiple QB changes during the season and was the beneficiary of the sweet touchdown pass Nick Foles threw milliseconds before his clavicle snapped in two. Chark ended the season with 1,008 yards and eight touchdowns. However, an ankle injury in week fourteen forced Chark out in the fourth quarter. He missed week fifteen and laid two eggs in weeks sixteen and seventeen (2/18 and 4/34, respectively). Prior to that point, he played on a 1,177 yard, ten-touchdown pace.
- Chark, and indeed all the wide receivers, could nor overcome an underwhelming gameplan that ended with Jay Gruden replacing OC John DeFilippo. DeFilippo’s 2018 ouster did enough to propel the 2019Vikings into respectable offense territory this season. There are some wet blankets thrown on Gruden for his propensity to utilize a short game, and that it might hurt Chark in 2020. However, Gruden & DeSean Jackson made sweet music together in their two healthy seasons. Also, he coached Terry McLaurin to an eye-popping 1,306-yards, 16-touchdown pace in the five games they had together. Chark will be fine and is a candidate to take a step forward in 2020.
- In a truly strange turn of events, Leonard Fournette suddenly became a pass-catching back. I don’t understand it either, but he notched 100 targets last season, catching 76% of them. This bested his 2017 and 2018 seasons, wherein he had 74 targets combined. While Fournette had plenty more targets (again, more receptions than targets in his first two years combined), his efficiency did not bode well for Jay Gruden making it a part of his game plan in 2020. A running back notched 100 targets 35 times since Y2K (“The Willennium” as we call this century). Fournette’s yards per reception ranked fourth-worst of the last 20 seasons.
- Luckily, for those who lean into him in 2020, Leonard Fournette had one of the unluckiest RB touchdown seasons in recent memory. All backs, combined, with at least 500 touches since 2010, score a touchdown about every 32 touches. Fournette in his first and second seasons, performed slightly better than this, scoring a touchdown about every 29 touches. This season, he had 341 touches and just 3 touchdowns. For those keeping track at home, that’s just under a touchdown every 114 touches. Chris Johnson posted the second-worst TD rate of the last decade, scoring a touchdown once every 80 touches. Touchdown regression is coming for Fournette and in a big way. If you’re a yardage person, his 384 yards gained per touchdown scored ranks as the worst in the last decade by 120 yards per touchdown.
- The country went wild for Minshew Mania in 2019, but truth be told, neither Minshew nor Foles did a great job at running the offense in Jacksonville. Minshew put up decent numbers (3,738-yards, 24-touchdown, 7-interception pace), but the Jaguars offense averaged just 19.2 points per game in his starts. Foles, unfortunately, played much worse. Excluding his eight pass attempts week one, he averaged 220 passing yards a game, with two touchdowns and two interceptions in three starts. The Jags averaged 14.7 points per game in those starts. Money might dictate Foles gets the nod to start 2020, but you should stash Minshew in all your 2QB leagues.
Check out the rest of the What to Remember series as it develops!
For more football with a dose of absurdity, follow Football Absurdity on Twitter.
Get free fantasy football advice by joining our Discord.
(Header Image By Tech. Sgt. Stacia Zachary, public domain per Department of Defense Guidelines)
