What Urban Meyer Can Do To Help The Jacksonville Jaguars Odds

• Urban Meyer will be the new head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
• Trevor Lawrence has -5000 odds to be the first pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, which the Jaguars have.
• The Jaguars have $77 million in cap space and 11 picks in the 2021 NFL Draft.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Urban Meyer will be the new head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, a fairly surprising move that has large potential upside and downside.

Meyer is known as a program builder at the college level, and the Jaguars will be looking to utilize that skillset to improve their Super Bowl betting odds next season.

However, there are a lot of hoops for Meyer to jump through before the Jaguars, a longtime laughingstock, become anything but bottom feeders.

Remember, even the great Nick Saban wasn’t a world-beater in the NFL. Although, Meyer might be in a better spot than Saban was based on this upcoming draft class alone.

Trevor Lawrence

It’s impossible to discuss the Jacksonville Jaguars without mentioning Trevor Lawrence, who is the presumptive number one pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.

Lawrence has more hype than any QB prospect since Andrew Luck, and with ridiculous stats and a National Championship victory under his belt, the hype is deserved.

If Lawrence manages to fulfill his potential under Meyer, the sky is the limit - he’s as close to a lock for the number one pick as there’s ever been.

There are only two other players in even mild consideration for the first pick in the draft, OSU QB Justin Fields and Oregon OT Penei Sewell.

However, the match of Lawrence and the Jags seems perfectly set - the franchise has never had a great QB. The best QB in Jaguars history is Mark Brunell, who led the team to a 63-54 overall record, and four playoff appearances.

Since Brunell, the Jaguars have languished with such names as Blake Bortles and Chad Henne under center.

Lawrence has the potential to be an all-time great NFL QB. If he can do that, Meyer’s tenure will end up successful no matter what, especially compared to what the Jags are used to. The Jacksonville Jaguars Super Bowl odds might not be at the top of the odds board, but they’d get a boost from solid play at QB.

Who Will The OC And DC Be?

Meyer is not a coach who is focused entirely on the on-field action - he’s not Sean McVay.

Meyer is a big picture thinker who tends to allow his assistants to run the offense and defense, and who those assistants are will matter a lot in how this team shapes up.

The Jaguars are not totally bereft of talent on offense, with undrafted RB James Robinson being one of the lone bright spots on the team in 2020.

Robinson rushed for 1070 yards on 240 carries, scoring seven rushing touchdowns in 14 games, and also contributed three touchdowns as a receiver.

The Jaguars need upgrades in talent, of course, but the people calling the plays will be very important.

At Ohio State, Meyer employed Ryan Day and Tom Herman, who have gone on to reasonable success after he left. Meyer will need to find similarly talented coaches to fill Jacksonville’s coordinator positions. It would be wise to hold off any bets on the Jaguars until these positions are filled.

The Offseason

The Jaguars won one game in the 2020 season. They are obviously not a good team right now.

However, outside of simply having the first pick in the draft, the Jaguars have quite a war chest of assets available to upgrade immediately.

They have $77 million in cap space available, and 10 picks in the NFL Draft (not counting the Lawrence pick).

One of those picks is another first-round pick that could go towards addressing the Jaguars’ mediocre offensive line. That pick is projected to end up around 21st in the league, as it belongs to the LA Rams, and was received in exchange for Jalen Ramsey.

They can make almost any move on the board in Free Agency, and could choose to focus on either side of the ball.

Focusing on the offensive line makes sense in the context of drafting Lawrence, as keeping him protected will be key to their future.

Keep an eye on Alex Leatherwood of Alabama as a potential draft selection from the Jaguars with that pick should they decide to target the O-line.

Overall, the Jags have a ton of obvious issues, and Meyer’s job is certainly a difficult one. He’s been up to the task at his previous stops, but there’s a large difference between the NFL and college football.

Will Meyer’s CEO-style approach work in the NFL? Jags fans and those betting on the Jacksonville Jaguars will have to wait to find out.