The Touchback is launching a preview series for fantasy football this season. Today, we’re providing you with the Jacksonville Jaguars 2020 Fantasy Football Overview. Click here to read our other previews.
The Jacksonville Jaguars are a weird team. They aren’t terrible and have some interesting players. But they also aren’t good. You could see them winning anywhere between two and eight games in 2020. From a fantasy football perspective, the Jags’ key players are sort of similar.
DJ Chark and Leonard Fournette could easily finish in the top-10 players at their respective positions but there are also scenarios where they are busts. Fournette could even find himself traded this season after Jacksonville declined his fifth-year option. If the team starts out 1-5 or 2-4, there really isn’t any point in keeping him around.
Regardless of what happens with the former LSU Tiger, the Jaguars offense remains an enigma. They averaged only 18.8 points per game last season, 26th in the league, but were middle of the pack in total yards gained, yards per play and plays run. They didn’t turn the ball over a lot and ranked 15th in sacks allowed. Finishing drives was the team’s real issue in 2019. They scored the second highest number of field goals in the NFL last season, including 12 from inside 30 yards.
The team’s scoring woes were due in part to penalties. Per NFL Penalties, Jacksonville’s offense committed 62 infractions, losing 509 yards and negating countless other gains in the process. This has been a consistent problem under Doug Marrone as the Jags have finished inside the top-14 in offensive penalties committed during his three full seasons as head coach.
Related: Mike Williams and 2 other WRs to avoid in 2020
Jacksonville Jaguars 2020 Fantasy Football Overview: Players to watch
Stud – DJ Chark
Chark was WR17 in full-point PPR leagues last season and WR16 in half point. He goes into the season as the unquestioned number one receiver on the team. There is no reason to think he won’t match the 73 catches/1008 yards/8 TDs he put up in 2019.
Dud – Gardner Minshew
Gardner Minshew is a cool dude and fun as hell to watch. That doesn’t make him a viable NFL quarterback or guarantee a top-15 finish in fantasy football. The facts are that Minshew threw for less than 250 yards in seven of his 12 starts and completed less than 50 percent of his throws in three games. Even in two-QB leagues, there are better options than Minshew out there.
Sleeper – Chris Thompson
Leonard Fournette had 100 targets and 77 catches last season. He also did absolutely nothing with them. Chris Thompson is reunited with Jay Gruden, his former coach in Washington. Gruden has always found ways to get Thompson involved in the offense when he was healthy, especially in the passing game.
He could be a viable RB2/Flex play this season in Jacksonville. Of course, he hasn’t managed to play more than 11 games in any of the past three seasons which means Thompson carries some risk.
Wildcard – Laviska Shenault Jr.
Laviska Shenault Jr. did a little bit of everything at Colorado. Wide receiver, running back and wildcat quarterback. In many ways, he was a much better N’Keal Harry. However, Shenault has a core injury that hampered him during his junior season and eventually required surgery. That caused his draft stock to fall. It’s hard to know what to expect from him in 2020, but he’s a guy worth keeping on your radar.
Jacksonville Jaguars 2020 Fantasy Football Overview final thoughts
If the Jaguars can score more touchdowns in 2020, they will probably be an okay fantasy team. That’s not a given though. Was the issue last season due to poor red zone play calling or a bad offensive line? Considering the line wasn’t improved all that much, it will be up to Jay Gruden to work some magic.
Jacksonville is somehow both interesting and terrifying when it comes to fantasy football in 2020.
