Will the Jacksonville Jaguars find a way to return to the NFL playoffs next season?

The Jaguars ended the 2022 season with a record of 9-8, taking first place in the AFC South and fourth in the AFC. They won in a Wildcard matchup over the Los Angeles Chargers before falling to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Divisional Round. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence threw for 217 yards, one touchdown and one interception against the Chiefs. Running back Travis Etienne rushed for 62 yards on 10 carries.

“Tough night,” Lawrence wrote in a January tweet. “Thank you to everyone that was with us on this ride. We will be back. #DUUUVAL.”

It would be Jacksonville's first run in the playoffs since the 2017 season, where it would make it to the conference championship before losing to the New England Patriots. Lawrence would end the season with 4,113 passing yards, putting him at ninth place in the NFL during his second season.

The Jaguars added key pieces in the offseason and 13 players via the NFL Draft. They drafted Oklahoma offensive tackle Anton Harrison and Penn State tight end Brenton Strange with their first two selections, strengthening an offense that passed for 4,148 yards, good enough to take 12th place in the NFL. They signed running back D'Ernest Johnson to a one-year contract after he rushed for 738 yards and three touchdowns in four seasons with the Cleveland Browns.

Who are some underrated players who could have a breakout season for the Jaguars in 2023?

Calvin Ridley

How will Ridley impact the Jaguars in the 2023season ?

The former Alabama standout was taken with the 26th-overall pick by the Atlanta Falcons in the 2018 NFL Draft. He earned 3,342 receiving yards and 28 touchdowns during his first four seasons, peaking at 1,374 yards during the 2021 season. Ridley was suspended for at least the 2022 season last year after he bet on NFL games in November 2021 while he was away from the Atlanta Falcons, according to ESPN Staff Writer Michael DiRocco.

Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson had high praise for the 28-year-old receiver in May.

“I've been impressed with him,” Pederson said of Ridley, per Jaguars.com. “He's been focused, engaged, doing the things we asked him to do. It's just being on the same page with Trevor (Lawrence). He has done a great job in the classroom and he has been able to take that out to the field.”

Jaguars offensive coordinator Press Taylor said Ridley impressed in terms of meetings and with the extra work he does.

“You can tell he is doing it because he comes in the next day, he's got his list of questions that are very thought out,” Taylor said. “You can tell he's peeked ahead of the install for us just looking a couple days ahead as we go on.”

Calvin Ridley can bring a boost to a wide receiver corp that was led by Christian Kirk's 1,108 receiving yards last season. Having a blossoming quarterback in Trevor Lawrence, along with an experienced head coach and a former offensive coordinator in Pederson, will give him the perfect opportunity to have a breakout season in 2023.

Travon Walker

Will this year be Travon Walker's year?

Jacksonville selected the 22-year-old edge rusher with the first-overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft after he spent three seasons with the Georgia Bulldogs. Walker played in 15 games and started in 14, earning 49 tackles, five tackles for loss, 10 quarterback hits, 3.5 sacks and two pass deflections. The defense as a whole can benefit from the second-year edge rusher's improvement from his first season to the next.

“You want to see Travon take that next step in Year Two,” Pederson said in March, via Jaguars.com Jaguars Senior Writer John Oehser. “You want to see Josh come along again as an edge rusher, and really in his fifth year make an impact with the team.”

Pederson said he loved Walker's competitiveness, athleticism and strength in March.

“One of the things I appreciated with Travon is how he improved,” Pederson said, via Jaguars.com. “Some of these young guys don't know how to study the game as well. Being able to show him how to study, what to look for, who to study – great edge rushers in our game, to try to take some takeaways from that – and again, there's so much room for improvement with him.”

Along with linebacker Josh Allen, who led the Jaguars in sacks last season with seven, Jacksonville's pressure on defense could use a boost from an improved Walker. The Jaguars re-signed former Chicago Bears defensive end Roy Robertson-Harris to a three-year extension in February, bringing him back to a defense that recorded 35 sacks last season, putting them at 25th in the NFL.