Will The Jacksonville Jaguars Stick With Jake Luton?
The Gardner Minshew era is over in Jacksonville. It’s no fault of his own. The Jacksonville Jaguars turned to sixth-round rookie, Jake Luton as the starter in their Week 9 matchup against the Houston Texans. And despite a loss, there appears to be a new franchise QB in town.
Luton didn’t get much talk over the days leading up to Week 9. Nobody in the NFL circles really cared to take notice. It’s because the Jaguars are one of the laughing stocks of the league. At least with this performance, Luton and the Jags are back on the radar.
The final stats of 26/38 with 304 yards, 1 passing TD, and 1 rushing TD aren’t pedestrian for a rookie QB in his first start. Luton found an instant connection with WR, DJ Chark Jr, who he found for a 73-yard TD on the first drive of the game. He then led the Jags on a 7-play, 80-yard scoring drive with just over 2 minutes left in the 4th quarter. Had it not been for a missed 2-point conversion, the Jags might have won the game.
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This QB revelation for Jacksonville comes at a strange time. The Jags will be in the running for a top-3 pick. That almost certainly means either Trevor Lawerence, Justin Fields, or Trey Lance are available to them. The three are considered the top QB’s in the 2021 Draft class. Even if Luton balls out the rest of the season, the temptation to take a franchise QB might be too great to pass up.
What does Luton need to do in order to keep this starting for the future? He doesn’t necessarily need to win games, just show the skill needed to be a franchise QB for the Jags. Sunday was a good start. However, it’s almost assured that Jacksonville will look at one of the three QB’s in the offseason, despite the play of Luton. It’s his job to make sure they aren’t seriously looking.
The pressure is really on Jacksonville. They could have a franchise QB already on their roster. How confident are they that he’s the one? If they give up on Luton for a QB in the draft, are they wasting a pick? Or, if they forgo a QB to stick with Luton as the starter, did the Jags lose out on a potential MVP?
Only time will tell if Jacksonville has the answer at QB in Jake Luton. All signs point to him being the QB for the remainder of the season, however, that’s not a given. If he runs away with the job, the temptation to draft another QB isn’t near as high, and we’ll have a much more clear answer as to the direction the Jags intend to take.
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Daniel is a guru of baseball and basketball prospects. He’s a very experienced Amusement Park traveler as well. Follow him and his hot takes on Insta @dgentleman9288
