I was tinkering with Pro Football Reference and pulled Jaguars QB stats into Excel. Made my own “Contribution per game” (basically an adjusted fantasy score) and ranked QBs by that.
Rank Player Year
1 Trevor Lawrence 2025
2 Blake Bortles 2015
3 David Garrard 2007
4 Trevor Lawrence* 2022
5 Mark Brunell* 1997
6 Blake Bortles 2016
7 Gardner Minshew II 2019
8 Mark Brunell 1995
9 Mark Brunell 1998
10 Trevor Lawrence 2023
11 Blake Bortles 2017
12 David Garrard 2010
13 Trevor Lawrence 2024
14 Mark Brunell 2000
15 Mark Brunell* 1996
Contribution per game = Passing Yards-Sack Yards 1 Point per 25 Yards + Rushing Yards 1 Point per 10 Yards + Total TD 6 Points per TD – Total Turnovers 4 Points per Turnover
Yards Per Game = Passing+Rushing-Sack Yards
Plays Per Game = Pass Attempts+Rush Attempts+Sacks
Offensive Load = Amount of offense relying on the QB. QB Plays per game / Other Team Rush Attempts+QB Plays Per Game
I also looked at rushing and team defense for these seasons. Bortles was dealing with an anvil around his neck, consistently terrible D until 2017, and little help in the backfield. Though he did have 32 turnovers in 2015.
David Garrard had the best rushing duo in team history and solid defenses. He wasn’t asked to do a ton but took care of the ball and didn’t make mistakes.
Brunell was similar to Garrard once he had Fred. He was better in 97 than 96, surprisingly. The 34 turnovers he had in 96 held that season back.
Trevor’s 2025 really was as good as it felt it was. By mid 2028 he should hold every Jags passing record.
Minshew Mania? It was real.
9 comments
At first glance. I can’t disagree with this.
Sorry man but any list that has 2015 Bortles as the 2nd best QB season in franchise history is completely worthless
That 07 Garrard season was fun even though he had garbage to work with receiving-wise.
I’m too young to remember this but Brunell in 99 isn’t on this list? What was his stats for that year?
48% of statistics are made up on the spot
2015 and 2016 were disgusting QB years.
Putting Bortles 2015 ahead of Mark Brunnell is insane. I’m guessing most here are too young to remember but the Jags were actually a good team from 96-99 and he was a big reason
I think you’re massively underestimating how much harder it was to play QB in the 90s. Brunell’s best years are up there with Elways and was a hell of a lot more impressive than Bortles throwing 270 yards/ game and turning it over twice a game. Also having Bortles season with a 70 rating and 1.6:1.5 TD to turnover ratio is wild.
You’re severely underestimating the Brunell years since statistics have skewed heavily in favor of offenses since that era.
But within the current era, I have no arguments. Some interesting tidbits here
2015 was fun from a fantasy perspective but like, a lot of the performance came when we were already down and Bortles just chucked it downfield a ton.