Is Jaguars’ D.J. Chark the NFL’s next great wide receiver?

It’s a team that’s fallen hard after reaching the AFC title game in 2017. But the Jacksonville Jaguars have quite the talented performer catching passes.

When the Kansas City Chiefs won the AFC title last year, it meant that none of their players would be appearing in the Pro Bowl. That opened the door for Jacksonville Jaguars’ second-year wide receiver D.J. Chark, who replaced Tyreek Hill in the all-star contest. And the 2018 second-round pick certainly qualified to be on such a talented roster after a breakout year.

While teammate and running back Leonard Fournette actually had three more receptions, Chark’s 73 catches were good for a team-best 1,008 yards in 15 outings. The 6-4, 198-pound receiver was targeted 118 times. He also finished with exactly one-third (8) of the team’s 24 scores through the air.

During his rookie season, the former LSU wideout played in only 11 games, was targeted 32 times and caught only 14 passes for 174 yards and zero scores.

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You get the sense that the 23-year-old pro is capable of even bigger things in 2020 and that could very well happen this year with new offensive coordinator Jay Gruden taking over for John DeFilippo.

“I played in a West Coast offense my first three years of college, so I’m excited,” said Chark to John Reid of The Florida Times-Union in late January. “It allows you to stretch the field a lot. I’m just ready to see what he can bring to the team. I’m ready to work with him.”

While 73 receptions were only good enough to rank 29th in the league in that category, Chark’s eight scoring grabs were tied for ninth in the NFL. But keep in mind that he upped his catch total from his rookie campaign by an impressive 59.

That would be quite the feat to duplicate that mark. But the Jaguars’ wide receiver certainly opened a lot of eyes in his second year in the league and the best may be yet to come.

“I know it all comes down to me making plays, getting open and being consistent,” said Chark to Reid. “I have to improve. But I honestly felt like Flip put me in a lot of good positions to be explosive and I feel like the new OC (Gruden) will do the same.”

If Gruden does indeed continue to do the same, we could see the young pass-catcher, paired with second-year quarterback Gardner Minshew, start to emerge as one of the elite receiving threats in the league.