When the Jacksonville Jaguars drafted Gardner Minshew in the sixth round of the 2019 NFL Draft, no one envisioned him becoming a viable quarterback in his first year. The Washington State product has proven himself to be the future franchise quarterback for the Jaguars.
Last offseason, Jacksonville finally decided to move on from Blake Bortles at quarterback. To replace him, the Jaguars chose to sign Nick Foles after he decided to depart from the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Jaguars signed the Super-Bowl-winning quarterback to a four-year, $88 million deal to become the starting quarterback. Upon his arrival, Jacksonville believed that they were headed towards being a contender in the AFC South.
But in Week 1, Foles suffered a devastating shoulder injury while throwing a touchdown to D.J. Chark against the Kansas City Chiefs. As a result, Jacksonville had to place Foles on injured reserve and he would miss the next eight weeks.
In the Chiefs' game, the Jaguars were forced to deploy Minshew at quarterback. The rookie signal-caller responded by completing 22 of his 25 attempts for 275 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception.
Despite losing the game, Minshew showed some promise in his first action in the NFL. Then, in his first start, Minshew came close to defeating Deshaun Watson and the Houston Texans on the road.
With Minshew having success on the field, the fans and media began to create the craze of “Minshew Mania”. The Jacksonville faithful were sporting mustaches and were wearing headbands to represent the moxie of the young quarterback.
The aura surrounding Minshew reached its peak when the sixth-round pick faced the Denver Broncos in Week 4. In the third quarter of the game, Minshew somehow maneuvered his way around defenders and delivered a perfect pass to Ryquell Armstead for a touchdown.
To cap off the impressive game, Minshew led Jacksonville on a game-winning drive in Denver. That game gave the front office of the Jaguars a sneak-peek of what they could be seeing in the future.
Unfortunately, Minshew had his worst game as a starter in Week 9 against the Texans. With Jacksonville contemplating whether or not to start Foles upon his return from injury, Minshew had four turnovers as the Jaguars lost the game 26-3 in London.
Therefore, the Doug Marrone chose to revert back to Foles at quarterback. But the veteran quarterback in his return and would be benched in Week 13 in favor of Minshew.
The Jaguars undoubtedly have a bit of buyer's remorse after signing Foles to a lucrative contract. At the same time, there was no one who expected Minshew to be as good as he's been in his first season.
In Minshew's past two starts, he has accumulated 363 yards and four touchdowns. Above all, he hasn't turned the ball over; showing his development in that part of his game.
At 23-years-old, Minshew has plenty of room for improvement in the coming seasons. Luckily for the Jaguars, they found their franchise quarterback in the sixth round of the draft.
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