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Why are people saying the Minshew era is over? Why is it his fault?


MikeT14

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Okay, let me start this off by saying all of my Jags viewing this season is based off redzone - so I only see highlights. That said, why is everyone writing off Minshew? Is it really the offense's fault?

I remember reading this earlier last week: https://www.nfl.com/news/the-end-of-minshew-mania-jags-qb-could-be-benched-if-he-continues-to-struggle 

Then I got to thinking when I saw this: https://deadspin.com/week-7-powerless-rankings-did-your-favorite-nfl-team-m-1845483293 

Quote

2. Jaguars (1-6)

The Minshew experiment is all but over in Jacksonville. They’ll need to be in the running for one of these top quarterbacks in the upcoming draft. While Minshew has an expiring clock on his time as a starter, he is not the only one to pay for that organization’s dysfunction. The defense can’t stop a shuffleboard game at a retirement home. Sunday’s game against the Chargers marked the sixth straight week that the Jaguars defense gave up at least 30 points. This team’s talent level is equivalent to my niece’s fifth-grade talent show. The Jaguars need a complete overhaul of talent and it’s going to have to start in the draft next April.

On the season he is completing 66% of his passes for 7 yards per attempt. He has a 13 TD to 5 INT mark. The offense has puttered some games (against some non-elite teams also), but they've also scored 27, 30, 25, and 29 points. But is he the reason they are losing? Or is it the bottom 5 defense? Curious to hear more. 

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From what I've seen, he holds onto the ball way too long and puts them in really bad offensive situations. I do agree about the defense though, he needed to be put into a situation where a good defense could play complimentary football, because having a developmental QB come in and have to just gunsling his way to victory throughout the learning process probably ain't gonna cut it.

However, the idea that the Jags should bench him for Mike Glennon, or move on from him at this point is ridiculous IMHO. He's shown he's plenty of capable of making big time throws and being that passer they need. Their problems extend beyond Minshew and if they invested properly in the defense and OL, he could be their guy moving forward.

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Minshew looks like the kind of guy who can be a high end backup or a low end starter.  The Jags don't have the roster for a low end starter, and if they get a talented QB, the offense could be potent.

Minshew looked good against Tennessee, but there haven't been many QBs that haven't this year, so yeah.  I think more than anything else, it's the inability to actually win games.

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I think some of it is definitely colored by the fact that he has never really been viewed as the franchise guy in the first place. So the dominant perspective has been, he either needs to prove he is the guy, or by default he will continue to not be. Right or wrong, draft position and the perceived potential that comes along with it does heavily impact public and team perception of how long a player should be given chances. First round pick struggles, well, they're still developing, they need supporting pieces, they're young, etc. 6th round pick struggles, well they were always going to suck anyway, right? Like, he's blatantly better at this stage than, say, Sam Darnold, or Drew Lock, but teams are bad with the concept of a sunk cost, and probably always will be.

But also, it is important to have context with the numbers you're posting as good, from him. Passing defenses league wide are atrocious, right now. League average passer rating this year is 4 points higher than last year. It's 8 points higher than it was in just 2017. QB numbers are inflated across the league as a result. While 6.9 YPA, 65.9% completion, a 94.4 passer rating, a 4.9% TD percentage, and a 1.9% INT percentage all sound...pretty good, in the context of this season, they're almost all actually below average. He's right around 20th in almost every one of those stats. And the offense as a whole still sits at 26th right now in points per game.

The defense is a huge problem. The offense is also a huge problem. QB is just the single position where you can make the most movement with one draft pick. So when the whole team sucks, that's always where media and front offices will look to for step one to solving the problem.

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His arm strength isnt good enough in today's NFL and has been very evident over the last month. He's scared to throw over the middle because of it and struggles to get vertical. His anticipation and touch is good which has allowed him to have success at times, but this year he's regressed and been skiddish in the pocket/not as accurate on deep balls he was a year ago.

He has an OL that's played better than we've had in a while. Sack numbers are high because he's holding onto the ball too long and leaving clean pockets because he doesn't trust it.

He's probably the best QB we've had in a decade, but he's not a franchise guy. We are going to be picking top 3-5 with a few potential ones available...going to be a hard pass for me to watch the Mahomes/Watson and Lamar situations play out again because at the time we had Bortles who had his moments (similar to Minshew).

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