NFL Betting Online: With Blake Bortles likely to take a leap and an impressive draft class that should impact this team early and often, the Jaguars are young and improved across the board. However they’re still a year away from contending.
2014 Season Record: 3-13 SU, 6-9-1 ATS, 8-8 O/U
2015 Regular Season Wins Total: 5.5, -145 O, +125 U
Odds to Win Super Bowl: +27500
Odds to Win AFC: +9500
Odds to Win Division: +2000
Before we get too excited about the prospects of the Jaguars in 2015, keep in mind that every team is in the same spot at this time of year. Coaches and players say all the right things to create interest. The bottom line is where there are winners there are also losers. The Jags are the latter.
I can see the Jags improving on their three wins from last season, but a jump to .500 is a stretch. Coach Gus Bradley has done a fine job getting some pieces in place, particularly on offense where this team was an absolute joke last season.
We’ll see if Blake Bortles is the real deal after tossing last season away. Signing tight end Julius Thomas was a good piece of business and he immediately becomes Bortles’ top target. How he’s used will be crucial. Thomas is a one-dimensional tight end who doesn’t offer much as a blocker but his skills help a Jags offense screaming for playmakers.
The Jags need help at receiver where Marquise Lee, Allen Hurns and Allen Robinson headline a talented group. Their success hinges on the development of Bortles, who was erratic in 2014, but showed flashes of what he could become.
Expect T.J. Yeldon and Denard Robinson to be a dynamic combo at running back behind a rebuilt line that includes newcomers tackle Jermey Parnell and center Stefan Wisniewski.
About the only bad thing to come out of the preseason was out of the team’s control. Defensive end Dante Fowler, the No. 3 overall pick, was lost for the season on the first day of rookie minicamp, a brutal injury that will hurt the pass rush.
Fowler was the pass rusher the Jaguars needed, and now they’ll need to wait another season to use him. Paul Posluszny is a force in the middle of the field and Jared Odrick brings a welcome blend of versatility and quality, but the Jags don’t have much else on defense.
KEY ADDITIONS: TE Julius Thomas, CB Davon House, DT Jared Odrick, TR Jermey Parnell, C Steven Wisniewski, LB Dan Skuta, S Sergio Brown.
KEY LOSSES: CB Will Blackmon, LB J.T. Thomas, WR Cecil Shorts, CB Teddy Williams, CB Alan Ball.
With Bortles and his impressive young group of receivers, Jacksonville’s offense will finally be ready to take the training wheels off. The defense was finally supposed to emerge this season. It still could. If all breaks right for the Jags they could pull out a six-win season
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