The mustached rookie was an afterthought in this year’s draft, but he has put together one of the most impressive quarterback stretches in Jaguars history
One of the most memorable supporting characters of early 2000s cinema is Napoleon Dynamite’s Uncle Rico, the former high-school football quarterback who feels glory was unfairly snatched away from him, despite his rumored ability to throw a pigskin a quarter of a mile. When Jacksonville Jaguars rookie quarterback Gardner Minshew II – and his decidedly retro facial hair – were unexpectedly pressed into service in the first game of the season, there were many who instantly associated him with Rico. If fans were initially wary of taking Minshew seriously, he has had the last laugh: in the first four games of his career he looks like a legitimate
NFL starter.
Going into this year’s draft, most evaluators thought the
Washington State product could end up as a team’s third-string quarterback – if he was lucky. The Jaguars ended up picking him in the sixth-round (we are legally obliged to note here that that’s the same round as Tom Brady). A lucrative career warming the bench appeared to beckon for Minshew but then starter Nick Foles broken his clavicle in the first game of the season. That should have been a season-ender for the Jags, who signed Foles to a four-year, $88m deal over the offseason hoping that the hero of
Super Bowl LII would help them return to the playoffs after a miserable 2018.