Michael DiRocco, ESPN Staff Writer 6y

With no true No. 1, Jaguars embrace committee approach at WR

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Donte Moncrief knows a lot of people outside of the Jacksonville Jaguars organization don't think much of the team's wide receivers.

Too inconsistent. Drop too many passes. Contain a rookie and two second-year guys who blanked at times during games. Defenses don't respect any of them enough to take extra defenders out of the box.

Moncrief has heard it all, but instead of getting angry, he's going with a "just you wait" approach. The Jaguars' receivers, he said, are collectively as good as any receiving corps in the NFL.

"We're getting doubted," Moncrief said. "We've got a lot of young guys in our group, so nobody really knows what anybody's capable of. So we've just got to go out there and compete. We're going to show a lot of people that that room is very talented and we can play with the best."

The biggest question surrounding the position group -- especially in regards to fantasy football -- is which player is the No. 1 receiver. Is it Moncrief, who caught 18 touchdown passes in four years with Indianapolis but missed 11 games the past two seasons? Is it Marqise Lee, who has 119 receptions over the past two seasons?

What about second-year player Keelan Cole? The undrafted free agent from Kentucky Wesleyan was thrust into a role for which he wasn't ready when Allen Robinson tore an ACL in the 2017 season opener. He was overwhelmed for half the season, recovered and went on to lead the team with 748 yards receiving.

Don't forget second-year player Dede Westbrook, who missed the first nine games of his rookie season because of a sports hernia and caught 27 passes in seven games, or rookie D.J. Chark. Chark has been the most impressive receiver in camp, routinely making catches over defensive backs -- including against Jalen Ramsey and A.J. Bouye. Could either of those receivers be the team's No. 1?

Actually, they all could, receivers coach Keenan McCardell said. It will just depend on the day.

"I like it [there not being a true No. 1 receiver] because everybody is involved," McCardell said. "Everybody stays sharp and involved. Don't get me wrong, to have an Antonio Brown, a Julio Jones or somebody like that, it makes it probably a lot easier for [offensive coordinator] Nate [Hackett] as a playcaller. I tell guys that we are developing those type of guys.

"It is great to be able to have a group of guys that you can always count on any one of those guys to make a play."

The players seem to be fine with that approach, especially because they've made plays in practice against a defense that led the NFL in pass defense last season and boasts arguably the best cornerback duo in the league.

"The ball can go to anybody and anything can happen at any time," Cole said. "We have so many playmakers on that side, the other side; we're going against the greatest defense in history, in my eyes. Everybody on that defense is a weapon and every time you are going against anybody, it's a good rep."

Whether a true No. 1 receiver emerges or not, the Jaguars need the group to be much more productive than it was last season. Especially when it comes to making plays down the field. Per ESPN Stats & Information, the Jaguars' 42 receptions of more than 20 yards ranked 22nd in the NFL in 2017. The Jaguars scored only three touchdowns on those 42 catches, which tied with Buffalo for the fewest in the NFL.

Defenses stacked the box against the Jaguars in 2017 -- no team faced more eight-plus-man boxes (145 snaps, 27.5 percent of their total carries) -- to try to stop Leonard Fournette. The Jaguars believe they can be an even better running team in 2018 if they can make defenses respect the downfield pass game, because it will mean fewer defenders close to the line of scrimmage.

Hackett said they should be able to accomplish that by having the receivers share the load, which means that at the end of the season there could be three or four players with 40 to 50 receptions and close to the same amount of yardage.

"We want everybody to be part of the offense, we want a defense to have to cover everybody," Hackett said. "... I think we're always looking for guys, and whoever gets hot, that's who we want to get going. If all of a sudden Donte gets hot, we want to feed Donte. If Keelan gets hot, we want to feed Keelan ... We want [opposing defenses] to not take one [wide receiver] away and kind of pigeonhole what we are doing on offense."

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