The Jacksonville Jaguars may have lost at home to the Carolina Panthers 34-17 Friday night, but there were a few positive developments to take from the game.

Perhaps none were as surprising as the showing from fourth-string quarterback Joey Aguilar.

Aguilar, who only attempted one pass during last week's preseason opener against the New Orleans Saints (a 43-yard completion), balled out against the Panthers Friday night. The undrafted rookie completed nine of 10 passes for 130 yards and a 29-yard touchdown to wide receiver Trebor Pena.

The would-be firefighter has created a bit of buzz throughout Jacksonville's offseason and has now put out some impressive game tape that will force the Jaguars (and the rest of the NFL) to take notice.

All offseason, Aguilar has been competing with Carter Bradley for Jacksonville's QB3 job. Aguilar may have the upside edge, but Bradley's experience has put him ahead of Aguilar throughout the offseason. 

That was the case again Friday night. Bradley got in to begin the second quarter while Aguilar got the entire second half to himself. While Bradley was only able to lead the Jaguars to a single field goal in his quarter of work, Aguilar guided the offense to 11 fourth-quarter points (admittedly after the game was out of reach).

Against the Panthers, Aguilar thoroughly outplayed Bradley, who threw a terrible interception back across his body, allowing the Panthers' Chau Smith-Wade to make a tremendous play on the ball.

It was Bradley's second straight game with a pick, while Aguilar has not turned the ball over.

Aguilar also continued to show a great connection with the rookie Pena. After catching Aguilar's 43-yard pass last week, Pena hauled in four balls for 72 yards and the score Friday.

While Aguilar and Bradley may only be competing for a spot on Jacksonville's practice squad, the rookie may soon find himself moving up a spot on the totem pole. He has been the better of the two QBs over the Jaguars' pair of preseason games, and his upside makes him a terrific PS stash for Jacksonville to develop.

Now that he has shown the ability to perform well in a game setting, Jacksonville may start to worry that they may lose Aguilar to a team more willing to carry a third quarterback or can provide a better opportunity for the youngster to eventually become a primary backup.

Jacksonville only has one preseason game left next Friday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. With the starters extremely unlikely to see any action and QB2 Nick Mullens, entrenched as Trevor Lawrence's backup, potentially not playing as well, both Aguilar and Bradley will have a huge opportunity to separate themselves from each other.

If Aguilar outplays Bradley again against Tampa, he may be Jacksonville's preferred option for its third quarterback. Both could easily wind up on the practice squad, but Aguilar's impressive play and higher ceiling should make him the Jaguars' priority to keep long-term.

Tune in next Friday at 7:30 PM to see if Aguilar can build upon tonight's stellar performance.