The Jacksonville Jaguars are the hottest team in the NFL in late December, a statement few football fans would have expected to be true at the start of the season.
And that's because Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence is in the midst of the best stretch of his career. The fifth-year passer has not missed a beat since Week 13, committing zero turnover-worthy plays over his past four outings. During that span, Lawrence owns a 91.6 PFF passing grade and a 120.8 passer rating, placing among the best at the position.
Jacksonville has also leaned into pushing the ball downfield with greater consistency.
Lawrence’s average depth of target has exceeded 10.0 yards in five of the Jaguars’ past six games. There is typically a trade-off between attacking defenses beyond the sticks and limiting turnover opportunities, but Lawrence, head coach Liam Coen and the Jaguars appear to have found the right balance.
To push the ball downfield while limiting interception opportunities, teams typically need wide receivers capable of consistently creating separation to keep the ball out of harm’s way when targeted.
However, none of Trevor Lawrence’s pass-catchers would be considered elite playmakers. The Jaguars do not have a wide receiver inside the top 20 in average annual contract value, nor do they have a player ranked inside the top 30 in receiving yards.
Jacksonville also leads the NFL in drops by open receivers — what many would classify as concentration drops. On the ground, Travis Etienne’s 72.3 PFF rushing grade ranks 25th among the 32 running backs with the most carries.
So how have the Jaguars emerged as a top-10 offense and a legitimate contender in the AFC?
The emergence of Parker Washington
A former sixth-round pick with just over 500 receiving yards entering his third NFL season, Parker Washington was not a well-known name before his recent surge, which culminated in a 145-yard performance and a 90.7 PFF grade against the Broncos in Week 16.
Washington quietly posted his second elite PFF grade of the season back in Week 2 against the Bengals, catching all five of his targets for 76 yards despite running just 11 routes in the game. Those 76 yards accounted for half of his total receiving output through Jacksonville’s first six games, as drops and limited playing time stalled his development.
Things looked bleak for the unit when Travis Hunter suffered a season-ending knee injury at the end of October, pushing the unproven Washington into a starting role. Since then, the 23-year-old has been a revelation, looking like a different player following the Jaguars’ Week 8 bye.
Trevor Lawrence owns a 145.1 passer rating when targeting Washington, the highest mark of any starting quarterback-wide receiver duo since the bye.
Much of Washington’s success can be traced to his move back into the slot, the role he played full time at Penn State and the position where his 5-foot-10, 212-pound frame is most comfortable.
Before the bye week, Washington lined up in the slot on just 37% of his snaps. Since then, the absence of Travis Hunter has pushed that figure to 58%, with some games reaching as high as 75%, including his recent standout performance in Denver.
Jakobi Meyers finds footing on the outside
This is the other key piece of Liam Coen’s puzzle, the yin to Parker Washington’s yang. Despite playing the vast majority of his snaps aligned out wide in 2023 and 2024, Jakobi Meyers spent 60% of his snaps in the slot for the Raiders over the first half of this season.
Even with the ideal 6-foot-2, 200-pound frame of an X receiver, Las Vegas opted to deploy rookies Dont’e Thornton Jr. and Jack Bech on the outside, leaving Meyers inside. After a frustrating start to the season without a touchdown, Meyers was traded to the Jaguars, where he now aligns on the outside on 74% of his snaps, a far more natural fit for his skill set.
Since the transition, Meyers’ PFF grade has climbed from 63.4 with the Raiders to 75.6 with the Jaguars. His yards per route run have increased from 1.45 to 1.94, while his passer rating when targeted now sits at 102.5, a sharp contrast to the 55.2 mark he posted in Las Vegas before the trade.
A new version of Trevor Lawrence
While the emergence of these receivers has helped Jacksonville’s offense, Liam Coen has also played a major role in Lawrence’s development in his first season. Lawrence is playing under center more than ever, with an increased use of structured play-action concepts allowing the 26-year-old to stay in rhythm rather than relying on a constant diet of shotgun dropbacks.
The Jaguars are the only NFL team to deploy 11 personnel on more than 50% of their under-center dropbacks. While most teams prefer to pair under-center looks with a second tight end to support the run game, Coen opts to keep three wide receivers on the field to stress defensive backs.
Jacksonville also leads the NFL in screen passes from under center by a wide margin, using them on 21% of such dropbacks. That tendency forces defensive backs to stay closer to the line of scrimmage when Lawrence lines up under center rather than bailing in anticipation of deeper-developing play-action concepts.
Lawrence is one of just four quarterbacks with 100-plus under-center dropbacks without an interception, joining Drake Maye, Matthew Stafford and Dak Prescott. Coen has also emphasized Lawrence’s mobility, as he has recorded 34 rushing first downs this season, the third most in the NFL. Compared with his injury-shortened 2024 season, Lawrence has been far more willing to use his legs when passing options are exhausted.
Lawrence has also carved up Cover 1 defenses throughout the season. His 87.3 PFF passing grade against Cover 1 ranks fourth highest in the NFL. He has suffered some poor turnover luck against the coverage, throwing three interceptions despite just one of those passes being deemed turnover-worthy by PFF.
NFL defenses should be cautious of this Jacksonville passing attack heading into the playoffs. The Jaguars’ biggest offensive limitation has been drops, a metric that is historically unstable and could regress toward league-average levels over the remainder of the season. Despite limited playoff experience, this explosive passing game, paired with a defense capable of forcing turnovers at any moment, makes Jacksonville a legitimate Super Bowl contender.