The Jaguars Player Most Likely to Win the MVP Award

The Jacksonville Jaguars have made several additions to their roster this upcoming season, but a returning player is still their best. Brandon Austin of the Pro Football Network believes Brian Thomas Jr. has the best chances of any Jaguars player to win the Most Valuable Player Award.

"Is LSU “WR U”? It’s hard to argue otherwise with names like Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas Jr. coming out of Baton Rouge," Austin said.

"Thomas has already emerged as Trevor Lawrence’s go-to guy. Though the Jacksonville Jaguars drafted two-way star Travis Hunter, it’s not yet clear how they’ll use him. Thomas built a quick connection with Lawrence, finishing his rookie year with 87 catches, 1,282 yards, and 10 touchdowns. He also ranked sixth in yards after catch with 562 yards."

Austin noted that with veteran pass-catchers Christian Kirk and Evan Engram no longer with the team, Thomas should have more success than he did last season, and he should see that success earlier in the season than he did last season.

"With Christian Kirk and Engram gone, Thomas could exceed his 25.5% target share from last season. Hunter could draw coverage away, creating more 1-on-1 chances for Thomas. But Jacksonville was one of the worst teams last year, and another bad season would keep Thomas (and everyone else) out of MVP consideration," Austin said.

Following minicamp, Lawrence noted his excitement to play in a new offensive system. It is a system that should benefit the Jaguars' best players on the offensive side of the ball. Lawrence should have much more success under Liam Coen, and Thomas should be able to build upon his rookie season.

“Like I've said, changed some of my footwork, so I feel a lot more comfortable with that. Just some subtle changes. I think footwork, my eyes, just where I'm starting, using my eyes as a weapon, manipulating the defense. I thought there was some great stuff on tape throughout the spring of me being able to do that in the ways I wanted to," Lawrence said.

"So, that was a big step, just overall being comfortable with the system, not thinking as much. When you hear a play call, it's not like I'm straining to think about what I'm doing. At first, when you get in the system, you're kind of doing that, but towards the end it felt a lot more second nature and felt like I could just go and play and communicate and move fast.”

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