The Jacksonville Jaguars have been voted 32nd in the Student Union power rankings. The NFL season is upon us and that means anything can happen. Well, almost anything. Many of our esteemed writers have a hard time believing they can accomplish a whole lot. There is a lot of talent on this team, but the issues seem to mount up outside of the stadium. This is the franchise that has players beefing with the owner’s son after all. In addition, they shipped their best player away mid season and more seem to be on the way out. Before I give away too much of my opinion, let’s look at this team by the numbers.
Jacksonville Jaguars Returning Starters
Offense: 10
Defense: 5
Jacksonville Jaguars Key Additions
Free Agency:
Joe Schobert
The former Badger and Browns LB signed a 5 year, 53.75 million dollar deal with the Jags this off season. His deal made him the third highest paid OLB in the NFL. He has tallied over 100 tackles in each of his last three seasons, including 133 in 2019. Schobert set a career mark with four INTs and added nine PDs to the total. The defensive star also provides the Jags with durability, appearing in 99% of the team’s snaps last season.
Tyler Eifert
Adding yet another pass catcher to the arsenal, with the former Bengal. The former first round pick signed on with a 2 year, 15.5 million dollar deal. He hauled in 43 catches on 436 yards and three scores. The Jaguars hope he can return to his lone Pro Bowl season form. The big time receiver hauled in 52 passes for 615 yard and 13 TDs in 2015.
Draft:
CJ Henderson
I was not the biggest fan of this pick for the Jags, as you can listen to here. Naturally, Jacksonville felt like they needed to fill the hole left by Jalen Ramsey in the secondary.
K’Lavon Chaisson
One of my favorite new guys in the 2020 draft class. Read more about what I had to say here. He has a great opportunity to shine behind Josh Allen and Yannick Ngakoue.
Laviska Shenault Jr.
Although the former Colorado standout had round one buzz surrounding him, he fell to the Jags in the 2nd round. Injuries are a concern, but Shenault has a rare combination of size and speed. He may have a shot to work himself as far up as 2nd on the WR depth chart.
Jacksonville Jaguars Season Outlook
2016 feels like an awfully long time ago. Blake Bortles was somewhat leading a strong defensive team to a near Super Bowl berth. Since then, it has been rough sailing for Jacksonville.
Doug Marrone is back for his fourth season, but there’s speculation it will be his last. New to the staff this year is former R*dsk*ns head coach Jay Gruden, who assumes the role of offensive coordinator.
One of the bright spots in an otherwise dismal season was former Washington State QB Gardner Minshew. The signal caller tossed 21 TDs to 6 interceptions en route to a strong rookie showing. Even when Nick Foles came back from injury, his exciting style of play proved to be more effective than the current Bears QB. They are also returning their entire offensive line, a group which should be average to above average.
Locker Room Troubles
While there have been some trade rumors swirling, Leonard Fournette is the man in the backfield. He reached 1,100 yards for the first time in his career and tacked on 76 receptions. DJ Chark was a pleasant surprise for the Jaguars this past season, hauling in 73 passes for over 1,000 yards and eight TDs. He looks to be a strong focal point for the team coming into this season.
On the other side of the ball, they sport quite a bit of talent as well. Yannick Ngakoue has recorded at least eight sacks in each of his first four years in the league. The only problem? He does not want to play for the team. He is also the target of numerous trade rumors and has traded barbs with the Senior VP and Owners son, Tony Khan, earlier in the spring.
Outside of that, they host plenty of talent. In addition to their first round selections and free agent additions, 2019 first round pick Josh Allen looks to take a leap, as well as their young core of Ronnie Harrison, Myles Jack, and Joe Schobert.
On paper, I really like the Jaguars. I think they are a young, fun team and could surprise some people. But currently no one really wants to play there, which is a tough look for any franchise. The issues with Tom Coughlin clearly have had ripple effects on this team. Jalen Ramsey was shipped off albeit for a haul, but was upset with the team. If Ngakoue and Fournette are gone by season’s end, that would not surprise me. It is hard to get behind a team with so many internal issues that have clearly not been resolved.
Jacksonville Jaguars Win Total: 4.5
This is tough. On one hand I see the talent they have put together, but on the other hand I see how much of that talent wants to leave. Given their easy division and how electric Gardner Minshew can be, I am going to take the over, but just barely.
Fantasy Player to Watch: Leonard Fournette
There is an argument to put Gardner Minshew under this category. Although I would heavily advise against drafting him in the first round (free beer or not), he has some serious value in the back end of the draft. Especially if you like to wait on your QBs like I do.
The former LSU RB takes the spot here simply based on value. He had 341 touches this past season, with only three touchdowns. (!!) Numbers like that are a serious anomaly and have a tendency to regulate. But in ESPN’s PPR rankings he is RB18, even though he finished the season as RB9. Fantasy Football Calculator slots him as 3.08 or the 31st pick in the draft. He is a guy I will be taking a long look at early in the 3rd, perhaps mid 2nd in all my PPR leagues. The Jaguars RB has some immense value at that point in your draft behind a decent offensive line.
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