The 10 Best Jaguars Quarterbacks of All Time, Ranked

Getty/Heavy on Jaguars

The Jacksonville Jaguars were formed in 1995 and found substantial initial success, going to the playoffs in four of their first five years in the league.

However, since then, Florida’s third NFL franchise has become something of a laughing stock, recording the fifth most losses since their inception in ’95 and never having even attended the Super Bowl.

Despite this, the Jaguars have had a reasonably strong set of passers, which seems only fitting given the number of high draft picks they have accumulated over the years.

We’ll take a look at the 10 best Jaguars quarterbacks of all time:

10. Cody Kessler (2018)

GettyCody Kessler.

Not a spectacular remnant of the end of the Jaguars‘ Blake Bortles era by any means, but Cody Kessler is one of the few Jaguars backup QBs to have actually registered more than one win, something remarkably rare among fellow Jacksonville second-stringers. Kessler, originally a third-round pick for the Browns back in the 2016 NFL draft, was pushed into a starting role toward the end of the 2018 season to replace a waning Bortles, who was cut at the end of the season. While he did not set the world alight during his four game stint, he did manage to record 2 wins, going 2-2. Simply going 0.500 as a backup and playing with marginal competence is enough to earn him a spot on this list.

9. Quinn Gray (2002 – 2007)

GettyQuinn Gray.

Another 2-2 backup Jacksonville quarterback, and quite honestly No. 9 and No. 10 are nearly interchangeable. A strong-armed pusher of the ball down the field, Quinn Gray impressed in his four starts, throwing 10 touchdowns for a respectable 85.6 passer rating. Perhaps Gray’s best work, however, came in relief duty — highlighted by an impressive 2 touchdown, 119.0 passer rating display in a 40-13 win against the Titans on the last day of the 2005 regular season.

8. Chad Henne (2012 – 2017)

GettyChad Henne.

The man who most recently served as Patrick Mahomes’ backup, Chad Henne was a highly utilized backup at the outset of his career with the Jaguars, starting 22 games in his first three years with the team — and that does not include a rather spectacular 4-touchdown game off the bench against the Texans in 2012. Very much a stable, consistent presence in contrast to Gray’s more highlight-reel pageantry, Henne was a good leader in the room and a solid backup for multiple years in Jacksonville.

7. Blaine Gabbert (2011 – 2013)

GettyBlaine Gabbert.

The first of the Jacksonville starting QBs on this list, Blaine Gabbert’s time in Florida can unfortunately only be labeled as a disappointing one. Having been drafted with the 10th overall pick in 2011, Gabbert was expected to continue the legacy of his Pro Bowl predecessor, David Garrard, as a quality mobile, playmaking quarterback — except with a stronger arm. However, he never managed to reach anywhere near those heights; battling injuries and failing to maintain consistent play when healthy led to his ultimate demise, as he was benched for Chad Henne and subsequently traded to the San Francisco 49ers a few months later.

6. Gardner Minshew (2019 – 2020)

GettyGardner Minshew.

A fan favorite for long periods, the very fun Gardner Minshew burst onto the scene as a rookie in relief of the injured Nick Foles, who had just been signed to a four-year, $88 million deal with the Jaguars in the 2019 offseason. From Week 1, Minshew demonstrated a sharp processing of the game and impressive decision making for a rookie, throwing for 3,271 yards and 21 touchdowns in just 12 starts — going 6-6 in the process. This gave the Jaguars enough confidence to audition the Washington State alum to be the quarterback of the future over the course of the 2020 season. Sadly, Minshew did not pass that test, and a combination of a thumb injury and a “Sophomore Slump” in play eventually led to him posting just a 1-7 record as a starter, ultimately leading to the Jags receiving the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, where they selected Trevor Lawrence.

5. Byron Leftwich (2003 – 2006)

GettyByron Leftwich.

Perhaps known best to younger fans of the game as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers‘ Super Bowl winning offensive coordinator under head coach Bruce Arians, Byron Leftwich was another Top 10 draft pick who never quite turned out for the Jacksonville Jaguars — though the fault for this does not solely rest upon Leftwich’s shoulders. After a developmental but steady first couple of years, Leftwich suffered a broken ankle toward the end of year three — which had been by far his best in a Jacksonville outfit. He injured his ankle again in year four, limiting him to just three starts in 2006, and Leftwich was ultimately cut and replaced by fellow first round pick David Garrard.

4. David Garrard (2002 – 2010)

GettyDavid Garrard.

The replacement for Byron Leftwich — who, oddly enough, was actually drafted the year before Leftwich — David Garrard had to wait in the wings, starting just three games in his first three years before having the chance to showcase his talents after Leftwich’s devastating ankle injury. And with an impressive showing the following season following Leftwich’s re-injury, Garrard finally became the guy. An excellent dual-threat QB who went to the 2009 Pro Bowl and brought the Jags their first playoff win in eight years in 2007, Garrard is quite possibly the most electric QB in franchise history who posted consistently good years for half a decade with the team.

3. Blake Bortles (2014 – 2018)

GettyBlake Bortles.

Blake Bortles’ career will forever be remembered in two parts: the 2015 and 2017 seasons, and every other season. A surprise pick at No. 3 overall in 2014, Bortles had traditional rookie growing pains in his first year before blossoming into the strong-armed gunslinger that general manager Tom Coughlin envisioned in 2015. While a disappointing third season yielded a measly 3-13 record, Bortles was bare minutes from making history in 2017 when he took Jacksonville to the brink of Super Bowl LII, only to lose in heartbreaking fashion to the Patriots, through a pair of Tom Brady-Danny Amendola fourth-quarter touchdowns in a comeback 24-20 win. Bortles never managed to bring the Jaguars that close to a Lombardi Trophy again and was released at the end of the following season, putting a lid on a short but highly eventful Jacksonville Jaguars career.

2. Trevor Lawrence (2021- Present)

GettyTrevor Lawrence.

Someone who, prior to the 2024 season, could have potentially even stolen the No. 1 spot on this list, “TLaw” is the ultimate hard-to-pin-down quarterback. A generational talent coming out of Clemson in 2021, Trevor Lawrence had one of the more tumultuous rookie seasons that ended in the firing of head coach Urban Meyer. Since Doug Pederson took over in 2022, Lawrence has begun to live up to his billing as a highly elite prospect — the high point of which was a Pro Bowl 2022 season that finished with an all-time 24 point, second-half comeback. An injury in the second half of 2023 halted an early season run, while poor play in 2024 has kept the team at the cellar of the AFC South. Regardless, Lawrence is a very high-quality player who is the first truly “Super Bowl caliber” talent at quarterback Jacksonville has ever known.

1. Mark Brunell (1995-2003)

GettyMark Brunell.

And with the No. 1 pick we have, fittingly, Jacksonville’s first ever quarterback, Mark Brunell. Another dual-threat quarterback in the lineage of Jaguars signal callers, Brunell holds franchise records in completions, yards and touchdowns, and brought the at-the-time 2-year-old franchise to the AFC Championship in 1996 only to lose — like in 2017 — to the New England Patriots. To have played as well as he did for a team that had only just been formed reveals a lot about his leadership ability, grit and mental fortitude. Also as the Jaguars’ longest tenured quarterback with a total of eight seasons at the helm, Brunell is most certainly the Jacksonville Jaguars’ greatest ever quarterback.

The list isn’t over yet! See our pick for Number 11 HERE. Sound off to let us know who we missed!