Four other coaches were reportedly offered the Jags job and turned it down because of Trent Baalke, their GM. So, I'm not sure how much better their front office is than Philly's. It could even be worse. Byron Leftwich reportedly wanted to bring in his own hand-picked GM to replace Baalke if he came to Jacksonville. When told Baalke was staying, he said no, he didn't want the job.
The Jags have some decent talent on the roster. They also have that first overall pick in the draft. Will they keep that pick or move down for more picks? If you go by the draft value chart, the Eagles' picks 15, 16, and 19 add up to the value of the first overall pick. Could the Eagles bundle those three picks to move up and get an Aidan Hutchinson or Kayvon Thibodeaux and the Jags get three firsts?
Doug's not a bad coach. The Philly media just wore him down. I'm assuming the media in Jacksonville isn't quite as rabid dog-like. The big question mark I'd have with Doug would be "What happened between you and Carson?" They came in together in 2016 and were solid. In 2017 Carson was arguably the best QB in football and on his way to the MVP before getting his knee injured. By 2020 Doug and Carson were barely on speaking terms and Carson was a shadow of his 2017 self.
With a kid QB in Trevor Lawrence who's already on his third head coach (Urban Meyer, interim HC Darrell Bevell, and now Doug) in just his second year, I'd want to be sure I was giving the kid the best chance at success. A head coach whose star QB ended up not even willing to talk to him after four or five years would make me a tad nervous. That's not necessarily the history I'd be looking for in a new head coach. Even if Wentz was hard to work with (what QB isn't?) I'd want a HC who would do whatever is necessary to work with the kid.
In Carson's first year Doug had a pregame meeting with another head coach (Kyle Shanahan?) who told him he had a good one in Carson and Doug said, "As long as we don't screw him up." And then he did. He's got another good one in Trevor Lawrence, and I'd want to make sure he wasn't going to screw him up. What did Doug learn from the Carson Wentz issues and what will he do differently now?
You don't want to screw up a Trevor Lawrence. You want to build up a kid QB not screw them up. We don't know if Doug can build up a kid QB over the long-term. We do know he can screw one up though. I'll be watching things down there to see how it all turns out. What happens with Trevor Lawrence will ultimately determine what kind of a head coach Doug Pederson truly is. IF Trevor performs at a high level and is line for the league MVP on a consistent basis, Doug's a good coach. If they're not talking to one another in two or three years, eh, not good.
Doug really needs to build a good offensive staff that's in tune with building up Trevor Lawrence. The kid has lots of potential as long as the coaches don't screw him up. Doug has to be sure they don't screw the kid up. If you mangle the careers of two franchise QBs you're never getting another shot.
Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!
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