Most Important Non-QBs When the Jaguars Play Third Place Teams

When assessing any NFL team, many prognosticators and pundits focus on the quarterback who lines up under center, or nowadays, in the shotgun. But you can't have an apple pie without the cinnamon, nutmeg, butter, vanilla extract, granulated sugar, and flour. If not, it's just a bowl of mushy apples.

Still, you gotta have a good Red Delicious as the main attraction.

Just like the Jacksonville Jaguars need high-quality ingredients to mix in with Trevor Lawrence, he'd be sour without the cinnamon and sugar of Travis Hunter, Brian Thomas, Travis Etienne, and the rest of the supplies. Their opponents do as well.

In NFL.com's "Most important non-QB for every NFL team Players from every franchise were listed as which of those other main ingredients go a long way in determining their club's success. The Jaguars' representative on the list was Travis Hunter. Who were the representatives in the piece of the other third-place pies last year that will be facing "Duval's Finest" in 2025?

In Week 1, when the much-improved Panthers travel to Duval, Carolina will, like the Jags, roll out a rookie receiver on this list. However, Tet McMillan doesn't play corner that we know of.

"For Bryce Young's late-season 'breakout' to be more than a mere blip, the Panthers have to put him in a better position to succeed. That starts with giving him a true, target-earning No. 1 wide receiver, which he hasn't had at all through his first two seasons, when his top target was aging slot man Adam Thielen."

"McMillan consistently earned volume during his college career and took advantage of it in a big way. His big frame and ability to create yards after the catch should make for a strong fit with Young, as well."

Jacksonville may or may not get the Bengals' entry on the list, as Trey Hendrickson might not suit up in fancy tiger stripes right away. Hendrickson was the sacks leader in the NFL last year and is the very best on the Cincy defense by a landslide. PFF was short and sweet with their assessment of the situation.

"The Bengals need to either pay Trey Hendrickson or trade him. That's it."

Then there's the New York Jets and one of the very best-ranked CBs in the NFL, Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner, who will be in EverBank come Week 15.

"Gardner didn't have his best season in 2024. In fact, it was pretty clearly his worst season. He allowed a career high in receiving yards on throws where he was targeted despite facing fewer targets than in either of his first two years. If he can get back to being arguably the best corner in the league, that will go a long way toward helping Aaron Glenn rebuild this team."

Will any of these other third-place VIP non-QBs bring the flavor more than Hunter when they bake off for the blue ribbon head-to-head against the Jags, or will they merely get a pie in the face in the end?

Ensure you follow on X (Twitter) @JaguarsOnSI and @_John_Shipley and never miss another breaking news story again.

Please let us know your thoughts when you like our Facebook page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE