JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Throughout the Jacksonville Jaguars' offensive struggles this season, one thing has become pretty clear: Marqise Lee is well on his way to becoming every bit the player the team envisioned he would be when they drafted him in the second round in 2014.
It took Lee a couple years to get going because of injuries, but the former USC standout is now the Jaguars' best player, and he might be the one -- not Allen Robinson -- around whom the Jaguars build their passing attack in 2017.
Lee, who caught a career-high five passes for a career-high 113 yards in the Jaguars' 25-16 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday at EverBank Field, leads the Jaguars in receiving yards and is just three catches shy of the team lead. He has already surpassed 1,000 all-purpose yards and has been one of the few bright spots in a disaster of a season.
It's something the Jaguars had hoped to see in 2014 and 2015, but various injuries kept Lee from being much of a factor. He's healthy and has peace of mind now, and that has made all the difference.
"The first two years, regardless of the situation, me even being back on the field, I still had a little thought in my mind as far as me being injured or being capable of getting injured," Lee said. "As far as this year, I'm not really worried about it. If it happens, it happens. There's no thought about it at all. I'm going out there and playing until something happens."
Lee has set career highs in receptions (54) and receiving yards (728), and he's on pace to catch 67 passes for 896 yards. He is doing so with short passes, crossing routes and jump balls down the sideline. The Jaguars have lined him up outside and in the slot and have given him six carries on jet sweeps.
Meanwhile, Robinson has struggled after catching 80 passes for 1,400 yards and 14 touchdowns en route to the Pro Bowl last season. Cornerbacks are pressing him at the line of scrimmage and keeping him from releasing cleanly. They're battering him on throws down the sideline. Defenses are taking away what he does best -- winning 50-50 balls -- but playing two deep safeties to eliminate the deep ball.
Allen Hurns hasn't followed up his breakout season, either. Tight end Julius Thomas missed three games with injuries before being placed on IR on Saturday, and he was largely ineffective when he did play. As such, the Jaguars have needed Lee to be very good this season, and he has been.
"They're all competing, but he's really standing out," Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley said. "I like where he's at right now, and I think he's playing with great competitive spirt, and he's competing in his routes, he's competing in catching, he's competing in blocking."
Lee's strides have come mainly because he is healthy. He fought a hamstring injury during the first half of his rookie season and missed three games before finishing with 37 catches for 422 yards and one touchdown. After missing most of training camp, all of the preseason and six of the first eight games because of a hamstring injury, Lee finally got healthy and stayed on the field for the Jaguars' final eight games in 2015. But he caught just 15 passes.
However, Lee was healthy this past spring and participated in every organized team activity and the team's three-day minicamp. He was so impressive that the expected competition with Rashad Greene to be the Jaguars' No. 3 receiver after Robinson and Hurns never materialized.
He has already passed Hurns, and with Robinson struggling -- against Minnesota, he had the same number of targets (three) and catches (one) as Shane Wynn, who was promoted from the practice squad before the Denver game -- Lee has become the Jaguars' top playmaker, especially when you factor in his kickoff returns (25.8 yards per return).
Lee is more versatile (he has six carries for 35 yards), and because of that, he is more difficult for defenses to take away. It's not a stretch to say Lee should go into the 2017 season as the focal point of the Jaguars' offense.
He's pumping the brakes on that, though.
"It's the first year I've been healthy," Lee said. "I've got a long ways to go."
Not as far as he has come.
