Few teams received as much criticism for the construction of their wide receiver room this offseason as the Jacksonville Jaguars, but a mid-week NFL trade shows the Jaguars are further along than some other franchises that are on similar timelines.
The Chicago Bears made a minor move on Tuesday, trading a 2024 seventh-round pick to the New England Patriots for 2019 first-round wide receiver N’Keal Harry.
For the Bears, it was a chance to add a former top-32 pick to a wide receiver room that badly needs an injection of talent. For the Jaguars, it was a signal of the difference between their ability to build around Trevor Lawrence and how the Bears have built around Justin Fields.
The Jaguars’ wide receiver play was a comedy of errors in 2021, with players such as Tavon Austin, Tyron Johnson, John Brown and Phillip Dorsett all playing roles at one point or another. The 2021 Jaguars could have justified adding a middling receiver such as Harry, just as the 2022 Bears and their below-average depth chart can.
But the 2022 Jaguars? Not so much.
But after a busy March that saw the Jaguars add wide receivers Christian Kirk and Zay Jones, tight end Evan Engram, and retain Laquon Treadwell following a strong 2021 performance, the Jaguars are simply in a different place than the Bears.
Considering each team drafted their franchise quarterback in last year’s first round and has a new head coach in place this year, the teams are on eerily similar timelines. But through the second offseason of Lawrence’s and Fields’ careers, it is clear the support each quarterback has is considerably different.
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If the Jaguars had added Harry to their roster, he likely would have been — at best — the team’s No. 7 receiver entering camp, slotting behind Kirk, Jones, Marvin Jones, Laviska Shenault, Treadwell, and Jamal Agnew.
The Bears, though, have a depth chart that could genuinely feature Harry as one of their top-four receivers. The Bears added Harry because they have an offensive depth chart that is deserving of dart throws, just as the Jaguars had last season. The Jaguars didn’t add Harry because they don’t need him; they have added better players to the room both during and before this offseason.
Fields and Lawrence will have their careers compared for years due to their statuses as first-round picks from prestigious programs. The pair, along with Zach Wilson, Trey Lance, and Mac Jones, will face fierce scrutiny at each stop. It is up to their teams to ensure they have the internal support to combat that scrutiny.
So far, the Jaguars haven’t done what some franchises have done for their young quarterback. They haven’t added as many weapons as the Jets have for Wilson, for example. But they aren’t entering Lawrence’s second season needing to make moves such as trading for Harry to signal a commitment to build around their quarterback.
Whether Lawrence or Fields succeeds in 2022 will depend on a variety of factors, but the supporting cast for each is among the most pressing and impactful of said factors. So far, the Jaguars have improved their receiver room around Lawrence, while the Bears are in a place where they need to deal picks for unproductive busts like Harry.
Perhaps Harry just needs a change of scenery and will thrive with Chicago. But after just 57 catches for 598 yards and four touchdowns in three seasons, it is clear that any team adding him was going to do so mostly out of desperation.
That team is the Bears this year. It is no longer the Jaguars.