New Jaguars Playmaker Lands Brutal Prediction For 2024

The Jacksonville Jaguars lost No. 1 wide receiver Calvin Ridley in free agency this offseason, but they replaced him by signing fellow wide out Gabe Davis and selecting Brian Thomas Jr. in the first round of the NFL Draft.

Davis is expected to slot in as the Jaguars’ No. 2 receiver behind Christian Kirk in 2024, much like he did with Stefon Diggs in Buffalo for the first four years of his career.

The 25-year-old is known for his big-play ability, but Bleacher Report’s David Kenyon does not foresee a positive debut campaign for Davis in Jacksonville.

In a piece where Kenyon predicted his biggest bust for every NFL team entering the 2024 season, he chose Davis as the inauspicious representative of the Jags.

Kenyon called Davis’ three-year, $39 million deal “one of the more curious free-agent signings” of the offseason, noting that Davis had a rather rough end to his 2023 campaign with the Bills.

Davis hauled in 45 receptions for 746 yards and seven touchdowns last season, but he went without a catch in four of his last seven regular-season games before an injury kept him out of the playoffs.

Can the Jaguars bounce back after a miserable second half of 2023?

The Jaguars got off to a great start last season, going 8-3 and resembling legitimate contenders in the AFC.

However, Jacksonville ended up losing five of its last six games, much like the Philadelphia Eagles did in the neighboring conference. The Jags went from AFC South favorites to missing the playoffs entirely.

That didn’t stop the Jaguars from handing quarterback Trevor Lawrence a five-year, $275 million contract extension, which tied him with Cincinnati Bengals star Joe Burrow as the highest-paid player in NFL history.

As a result, an awful lot of pressure has been placed on the shoulders of Lawrence, the former No. 1 overall pick who has only had one very good season out of three.

The problem for Jacksonville is that the rest of the division has improved. The Houston Texans look like Super Bowl threats, the Indianapolis Colts managed to win nine games with Gardner Minshew under center in 2023 and the Tennessee Titans made numerous big additions this offseason.

We’ll see if the Jags end up having enough talent on either side of the ball to make a return to the playoffs. They won the AFC South in 2022.