Former NFL player and scout Bucky Brooks knows the ins and outs of this league, providing keen insight in his notebook. Today's installment covers:
But first, a look at how the Jaguars have tried to set their franchise QB up for a star turn in 2025 ...
Four years ago, Trevor Lawrence entered the NFL as the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, hailed by many as a generational talent. Last June, he inked a five-year, $275 million extension that cemented him as Jacksonville's QB1. Now, all eyes are on Lawrence as he heads into Year 5, with scouts and executives around the league waiting to see if he will finally have the kind of breakthrough season that validates his elevation to the "$50 Million Club."
Among qualified passers over the past four seasons, Lawrence ranks 29th in the NFL in yards per throw (6.8), 29th in TD-to-INT ratio (69:46) and 32nd in passer rating (85.0). The Jaguars, meanwhile, have gone 25-43 in that span, reaching the playoffs just once. Given the hefty investment the team made in him (the extension included $142 million fully guaranteed at signing), it is imperative for Jacksonville to help the 25-year-old perform like a top-10 player. Moreover, it is time for the squad to creep back into postseason contention behind a young quarterback who has shown promise as the centerpiece of an underachieving, enigmatic squad.
As a member of the Jaguars' radio broadcast team, I have watched Lawrence struggle amid the chaos -- he will be working with his third head coach since hitting the league -- around him. I have also witnessed his flashes of brilliance, mixed with the injuries (he's missed eight career games, including seven lost to a concussion and AC joint injury last season) and inconsistencies that have prompted questions about his place on the NFL's list of top quarterbacks.
This offseason, the Jaguars have spared no expense to ensure Lawrence maximizes his potential and joins the ranks of the elites. And the blueprint they've followed aligns with the "Three Ps" theory we've proposed on the Move the Sticks podcast, which suggests teams need elite play-callers, playmakers and pass-protectors to help a young quarterback succeed early in their career.
Let's take a closer look at how Jacksonville has upgraded Lawrence's supporting cast:
THE PLAY-CALLER
As part of their effort to jump-start Lawrence's career trajectory, the Jaguars installed as their new head coach a respected quarterback guru fresh off a stellar partnership with Baker Mayfield. During his time as the Bucs' offensive coordinator last year, Liam Coen helped Mayfield -- a former No.1 overall pick, like Lawrence -- enjoy the best season of his career (putting up a 71.4% completion rate, 4,500 pass yards, a 41:16 touchdown-to-interception ratio and a 106.8 passer rating) by building a top-five running game (Tampa averaged 149.2 rush yards per contest) to complement an aerial attack sparked by a pair of Pro Bowl-caliber pass-catchers (Mike Evans and Chris Godwin) on the perimeter.
Coen's previous experience with Sean McVay and the Los Angeles Rams during the Jared Goff and Matthew Stafford eras (Coen worked as an assistant in L.A. in 2018-2020 and as offensive coordinator in 2022) should also serve him well as he rebuilds the offense to elevate Lawrence's play as a starter. Coen watched McVay install quarterback-friendly schemes that helped each of those former No. 1 overall picks play at a Pro Bowl level. Moreover, he witnessed how the Rams' savvy play-caller was able to mask the QBs' flaws while showcasing their strengths as players.
Lawrence needs a scheme that accentuates his skills as a rhythm passer with deep-shot ability. Coen crafts the kinds of creative game plans built on clever schematics and tactics that could help yet another former top overall pick make the most of his game.
THE PLAYMAKERS
As much as Coen's expertise with the Xs and Os will help Lawrence play at a higher level, the team's personnel changes should further unlock his immense talent and potential from the pocket. The team revamped its pass-catching corps, releasing Gabe Davis and Evan Engram and trading Christian Kirk to the Houston Texans. Engram and Kirk especially stand out as a pair of trusty veterans, having posted the most and second-most targets, respectively, among Jags players in the Lawrence era, and losing them could harm the chemistry of the passing game. Then again, the continued development of 2024 first-round pick Brian Thomas Jr. -- who, as a rookie, became the first Jacksonville player to top 1,200 receiving yards in a season since Allen Robinson in 2015 -- as the team's WR1 should alleviate some of the burden on Lawrence to carry the offense alone. Plus, Thomas will be joined by Travis Hunter and Dyami Brown, who should add some sizzle to the lineup as "catch-and-run" specialists with big-play potential.
Hunter, the No. 2 overall pick poised to rock the league as a two-way player, is a point-scoring machine, an explosive playmaker with exceptional ball skills and hand-eye coordination. The 2024 Heisman Trophy winner specializes in making contested catches due to his extraordinary range and tracking skills.
Brown, who joined via a one-year, $10 million pact this offseason, is the kind of deep-ball weapon this team desperately needed on the outside. It's true that his regular-season production has not matched his potential to this point; the 2021 third-rounder dwarfed previous career highs with just 30 catches and 308 receiving yards in Washington last season. But we did get a good look at his big-play potential during the Commanders' surprising playoff run, when he put up 16.4 receiving yards per catch.
Add in Brenton Strange, who is earning a well-deserved promotion to TE1 after turning his 53 targets in 2024 into 40 catches for 411 yards and two scores, and it's clear the Jaguars have surrounded Lawrence with a collection of young, explosive playmakers on affordable deals (either rookie contracts or one-year pacts) that will help them balance the budget sheet in 2026, when the QB's cap hit is set to jump to $24 million, per Over the Cap.
Though the Jaguars' offense features a pass-centric approach, Coen is also determined to revive the run game. This should create more chances for big plays on the perimeter while enabling the team to lean on a ball-control attack. Travis Etienne might have to share the load with Tank Bigsby and rookie Bhayshul Tuten; even so, an upgraded running game will help the Jaguars maximize their talent, utilizing a balanced game plan that should help Lawrence flourish as a high-end game manager and potent playmaker.
THE PASS-PROTECTORS
The offensive upgrades extended to the line, with six new faces poised to crack the rotation this season. Free agents Patrick Mekari, Robert Hainsey, Chuma Edoga and Fred Johnson and draftees Wyatt Milum (Round 3, No. 89 overall) and Jonah Monheim (Round 7, No. 221 overall) join Walker Little (who stepped in at left tackle after Cam Robinson was traded away last season), Anton Harrison (a 2023 first-rounder who has settled in at right tackle) and veteran guard Ezra Cleveland. With that group, Jacksonville should be able to ensure Lawrence throws from a clean pocket on traditional drop-backs or play-action concepts.
Taken together, these offseason maneuvers helped put the Jaguars in the best position to maximize their investment in Lawrence -- and will help make it possible to finally assess Lawrence's potential as a QB1.
Can WR boost Packers at CB?
Travis Hunter isn't the only player poised to make a two-way impact in 2025. If Packers receiver Bo Melton's time working at cornerback pans out, it would give him one more avenue for helping Green Bay pursue its title aspirations.
Drafted in the seventh round by the Seattle Seahawks in 2022, the 26-year-old Melton has bounced on and off the Packers' roster, totaling 24 career receptions, 309 receiving yards and one touchdown catch, all compiled in Green Bay over the last two seasons. Entering his fourth pro campaign, he is attempting to become the Packers' latest WR-CB convert -- a move that struck a personal chord with me. As a former wide receiver-turned-defensive back who made the transition in Green Bay myself, the news of Melton's potential position switch took me back down memory lane.
I vividly remember Hall of Fame executive Ron Wolf gauging my interest in a position change in the middle of a free-agent workout at the Packers' facility. After I failed the wide receiver portion of the workout, the Packers general manager asked me to go through a series of defensive back drills to assess my overall athleticism, explosiveness and agility. Though I had not played cornerback since my junior year at Millbrook High School (in Raleigh, North Carolina), the backpedal drills, break-and-drive maneuvers and speed turns tapped into my strengths as a two-sport athlete (track and football) and campus-wide slam dunk champion at UNC-Chapel Hill. Moreover, the workout intrigued a gold jacket executive who watched his mentor, Al Davis, pull off similar transitions with the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders.
The Packers have a track record of successfully converting offensive players to cornerbacks, extending back before my arrival, to Corey Harris and Keith Crawford. I know the Packers believe in their process. They also have a high-ranking executive in the front office, national scout Sam Seale, who successfully navigated the transition from running back to cornerback as a 10-year veteran with the Raiders and San Diego Chargers before joining Green Bay's scouting department in 1995.
The Packers will be hoping the 5-foot-11, 189-pound Melton -- boasting 4.34-second 40-yard dash speed, a 38-inch vertical jump and a 10-foot-1-inch broad jump -- makes an impact as a "see ball, get ball" defender who clogs passing lanes on the perimeter. Given his speed, leaping ability, length and special-teams prowess, Melton is the perfect candidate to make the move from offense to defense as a backup player/situational defender in nickle/dime sub-packages.
"We've talked about this for a couple of years, just his skill set and how versatile he is," current Packers GM Brian Gutekunst said this week during minicamps. "You watch him on [special teams] and you're like, 'Wow, he could probably do some of that.' ... I think it's just something we're going to kind of look at and see if that's a possibility.
"Bo is everything we want in a football player out there as far as his ability as a receiver, certainly on [special] teams. If he's able to add this to his arsenal, that makes him really, really, really valuable to us."
Part of the Packers' fascination with Melton's potential as a defensive player stems from his superior athletic traits and the toughness he has displayed in the kicking game, particularly on coverage units and as a "vise" (cornerback) on punt returns. With the fourth-year pro already making contributions as a pass-catcher (eight receptions, 91 receiving yards) and runner (eight rushes, 54 rushing yards) in 2024, he provides the Packers with plenty of bang for their buck.
As a defensive back with extensive experience as a receiver in Green Bay and at Rutgers, Melton could make a smooth transition based on his comprehensive understanding of the passing game. From his ability to anticipate routes based on the wide receiver's alignment to his knowledge of route concepts, he has an advantage over most players at his position. In addition, Melton's hand-eye coordination and ball skills could make him a turnover machine in a "vision-and-break" scheme that creates interception opportunities on tipped or overthrown balls. The veteran, whose brother, Max Melton, plays cornerback for the Arizona Cardinals, could make a seamless transition after working hard on his footwork and fundamentals during the mandatory summer break.
As the Packers look to maximize their roster, Melton's versatility makes him a valuable commodity as someone who could potentially fill three roles, on offense, defense and special teams -- which could also extend his career.
