Jaguars roster breakdown: Wide receiver

The Jacksonville Jaguars are fortunate, compared to other NFL franchises this offseason, in that the majority of their impact players are returning under contract. So, I figured we would go position by position and look ahead to the 2018 season and go over who the Jaguars have, where they could upgrade and how much they’re spending at these various positions (2018 cap hits).

Let’s continue on the offensive line and get into the skill positions. First up, the wide receivers.

Starters

Presumably the Jacksonville Jaguars two starting wide receivers in base formation will be re-signed Marqise Lee and newly signed free agent Donte Moncrief. Both got a good chunk of money in the offseason, which at first would seem to necessitate playing. Lee is coming off an OK season and will need to be a lot more productive to prove his contract. On the other side Moncrief is coming with a lot of untapped potential and physical ability, but that’s yet to really translate on the field during his NFL career.

Depth

While Lee and Moncrief are the “starters” I still believe that is a loose term. With players like Keelan Cole, Dede Westbrook and rookie DJ Chark on the roster they will all get a ton of play. I wouldn’t be surprised to see someone like Cole, who I think was the Jaguars best receiver last season, force his way into a lot of playing time while guys like Westbrook and Chark get their feet under them. The Jaguars also have some interesting other guys at the back end of the receiver log jam like Jaydon Mickens and Allen Lazard.

The position group as a whole however, while lacking that true “No. 1 wide receiver” has a lot of potential to be more than good enough for the passing game to become more explosive.