Jacksonville Jaguars: Winners and Losers at the NFL Season's Quarter Mark

At the beginning of September, the Jacksonville Jaguars had a plan in place for the upcoming season.

Quarterback and first-round draft pick Blaine Gabbert would have a permanent seat on the bench as he learned the team's offense as well as the NFL in general.

While Gabbert remained on the bench, starter David Garrard would lead the team once again in hopes of reaching the postseason for the first time since 2007.

However, less than a week before the season, that was thrown away as Garrard was cut by the team because he struggled to get it going in the preseason.

Now with Garrard out, the Jags gave the starting job to Luke McCown and hoped that he could hold down the fort while Gabbert learned from the sidelines.

The Jags got off to a hot start with a win against a tough Tennessee Titans team and looked to carry that momentum into Week 2 against the New York Jets.

However, McCown quickly lost his job after an awful performance against the Jets, and coach Jack Del Rio threw Gabbert in, looking for a spark to turn the team around.

In four short weeks, the Jaguars have certainly had their ups and downs so far this season, so let's take a look at the winners and losers from the first quarter of the season.

Winner: Maurice Jones Drew

In four games, the only consistent thing on the Jaguars' offense is the production from running back Maurice Jones-Drew.

MJD has put together 391 yards on 77 carries, including a 122-yard performance against the Carolina Panthers in Week 3.

Last Sunday against the Saints, Jones-Drew's carries decreased as the Jaguars were in an early deficit.

However, even on 11 carries, the 26-year-old was still able to run for 84 yards, averaging 7.6 yards a carry.

Because of Jones-Drew's impressive start, the Jags rushing game ranks seventh in the league, averaging 126 yards rushing a game.

Jones-Drew is coming off his second straight 1,000-yard season last year and is on pace to make it three in a row.

If he keeps at his current pace, this could be a career year for the UCLA Bruin.

In order to help Blaine Gabbert adjust to the NFL, having a consistent and reliable running back to hand the ball off to is a rookie quarterback's dream.

Next week, the Jaguars face a tough Cincinnati Bengals defense that is one of the best in the league at stopping the run, only allowing 86 yards rushing a game—good enough for seventh in the league.

Expect an heavy dose of Jones-Drew early on in the game, and he will not disappoint.

Loser: Luke McCown

In the preseason, quarterback Luke McCown was the most impressive quarterback over both David Garrard and Blaine Gabbert.

Although he played against second- and third-string players, McCown went 12-of-18 for 133 yards and two touchdowns.

After the Jags decided to cut David Garrard, the starting job was given to McCown until Gabbert was ready to take over as the team's future under center.

In McCown's first game against the Tennessee Titans, the 30-year-old did well, completing 17-of-24 for 175 yards and grabbing a QB rating of 91.5 in the Jags Week 1 victory.

Even though he did not throw any touchdown passes in his first game as the starter, McCown showed potential to handle the role as starter.

That was until Week 2, when McCown put together one of the worst performances a quarterback could have against the New York Jets.

In only three quarters of play, McCown completed only six passes for 59 yards and threw four interceptions for a QB rating of 1.8 before he was benched in favor of Gabbert who has started ever since.

McCown had an opportunity this season to show the league that he still could compete at the NFL level, but he continued to struggle.

The Louisiana Tech graduate threw a wrench in the Jags plans for Gabbert, as he was brought in early, which could hinder his development.

Loser: Blaine Gabbert

Rookie Blaine Gabbert is clearly the most hurt by McCown's struggles.

Coach Jack Del Rio was searching for a spark after McCown's awful performance and thought the beginning of the future would do so.

However, Gabbert was not at all prepared to start in the NFL and has struggled because of it so far—especially last week against a New Orleans Saints defense that has struggled against the pass.

The Saints rank in the bottom half (20th) when it comes to defending the pass and have given up 350-plus yards passing on more than one occasion.

Gabbert could not take advantage of this as he only completed 16-of-42 for 196 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. His completion percentage was at a horrid 38.1 percent and he finished with a QB rating of 51.3.  

There have been several occurrences in the NFL where a team throws a rookie quarterback into the mix, and they are unprepared and are never able to get it together.

Del Rio may have made a move too quickly with Gabbert, as he was trying to save his job and Gabbert's development could be hurt because of it.

I know it has only been two games, but if Gabbert cannot improve somewhat over the course of the season, he will have a lot of work to do in the offseason, possibly with a new coach.

Winner: Mike Thomas

Other than Maurice Jones-Drew, the only other bright spot for the Jaguars offense has been receiver Mike Thomas.

Even with the struggles of a rookie quarterback, Thomas has excelled in only four games this season.

So far, the 24-year-old has caught 20 passes for 212 yards and one touchdown.

Thomas has clearly become the Jags' top receiving target as the next highest ranked receiver, Jason Hill, has only seven catches and has been targeted 20 times less than Thomas.

The Arizona alum has shown that he can still produce decent numbers with a rookie quarterback under center.

In his first two seasons in the league, Thomas only recorded five touchdown; therefore, being Gabbert's favorite target should increase that number.

Even though the Jaguars offense has struggled (more on that later), as the season progresses, Gabbert become more comfortable and Thomas will benefit from it.

The third-year man could have a career year this year and continue to show that he can be the team's best receiver since Jimmy Smith.

Loser: Jacksonville's Offense

As well as Maurice Jones-Drew and Mike Thomas have played this year, the Jacksonville Jaguars still have one of the worst offensives in the league when it comes to putting points on the board.

In four games, the Jags have only scored a combined 39 points.

To put that number into perspective, the first place and defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers average 37 points a game.

In Sunday's loss to the Saints, the Jaguars defense tried to give the offense every opportunity they possibly could to get back into the game.

The Jags picked off Saints' quarterback Drew Brees twice, kicker John Kasay missed two long field goals, and they held the Saints' offense to only nine points in the second half.

However, the Jags could not get anything done; as much as they didn't want to admit it, they knew it was going to happen.

When a team is forced to throw a rookie quarterback in, you cannot expect him to go out there and put up 400 yards and 30 points a game, unless your Cam Newton.

The Jaguars are going to continue to struggle this year while getting Gabbert up to speed. When he does, the team's numbers should improve.

Until then, the Jaguars will have to take the bad with good for a hopeful future of success.

Winner: Jaguars Linebackers

The Jaguars defense this season has been middle of the pack this season. Their rush defense ranks 15th, averaging 107 rush yards allowed, while their pass defense is 14th.

One of the main reasons the Jags have been able to stop the run has been their young skilled linebackers.

Linebacker Paul Posluszny was Jacksonville's biggest free agent acquisition this offseason and was a huge upgrade for the Jags defense.

The 26-year-old struggled out of the gate (only racking up four tackles in Week 1) but has since improved and has totaled 30 in just four games.

This puts him just outside of the top 20 in tackles throughout the league.

Posluzny's best game came last week against the New Orleans Saints where he recorded 13 tackles, nine of them solo, as well as his first sack as a Jaguar.

This was the kind of game Jacksonville had pictured when they signed Posluzny and he has not disappointed so far.

The other bright spot from Sunday's game was 29-year-old Daryl Smith, who picked off Brees late in the second quarter, leading to a Jaguars field goal.

Smith also finished with seven solo tackles and helped hold the Saints to only nine second half points.

The Jaguars defense is young and has a lot of potential, but it can only do so much for a struggling offense.

Loser: Jack Del Rio

Before the beginning of the season, Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver made it clear that if head coach Jack Del Rio could not take the Jags to the playoffs, Del Rio would not be returning for his 10th season.

At the quarter mark of the season, it seems that Del Rio will be out of a job at the end of the year, maybe even sooner.

In his eight seasons as Jacksonville's coach, Del Rio has only taken the Jags to the playoffs twice and have a 1-2 postseason record.

However, Jacksonville has not been back to the postseason since 2007, finishing two of the three seasons since in last place in the division.

Usually, three straight seasons of failure in the NFL is a one-way ticket to the unemployment line, but Del Rio received yet another chance this year.

After a unimpressive 1-2 season, Del Rio felt the need to start Blaine Gabbert to hopefully cause a spark to save the team and his job.

Del Rio's move did not pan out as he hoped—Gabbert has shown that he could have used a few more weeks on the bench learning.

Regardless of how Gabbert plays the rest of the season, there is a good chance he'll be playing for a new coach next season.