National Football League

'Doug Pederson can save the Jaguars,' Emmanuel Acho says

Published Feb. 5, 2022 3:39 p.m. ET

New digs are pleasantly abundant in Jacksonville, Florida.

Fresh off the fiasco that was Urban Meyer's brief and rocky tenure with the franchise, the Jaguars' sights are squarely set on the now, and that starts with their new head coach, Mr. Doug Pederson.

Jacksonville resided in the cellar regions of the NFL all season long, eventually losing 14 games.

But with the Meyer era now in the rearview, Emmanuel Acho believes the team's best days are ahead.

"I think he's a great hire for the Jags," Acho stated Friday on "Speak For Yourself." "Doug Pederson took a team with a second-year quarterback that was last in their division to a Super Bowl. He took a team led by Carson Wentz in his second year, an Eagles team that was 7-9 in 2016, that finished fourth out of four teams in the division, to 13-3, and a Super Bowl."

Why Doug Pederson will save the Jaguars

Emmanuel Acho explains why he believes new head coach Doug Pederson is the right man to build the Jaguars.

Acho said that this belief was fueled by how he categorized Pederson as a leader.

"He understands how to make the most of what he has. I look at coaches in three categories: Builders, sustainers and floppers. Joe Judge is a flopper. Sean McVay is a builder, he took a terrible team in Los Angeles, and two, three years later he was in the Super Bowl. Kyle Shanahan took a 49ers team that won two games the year before his arrival, and three years later he's in a Super Bowl, two years after that he's in an NFC Championship game. Mike Tomlin is a sustainer."

"Where is Doug Pederson in all of this? He's a builder. The Eagles' organization had some success under Chip Kelly, but they faltered. He takes that organization, and two years later builds that organization to the playoffs, then the Super Bowl. Because he's a builder, and this Jaguars team needs to be built up, I think Doug Pederson will save the Jags."