The pieces keep changing around him, but the one man the Jacksonville Jaguars keep bringing back is Blake Bortles. Taken with the third overall pick in 2014, Bortles has never led the Jags to more than five wins in a season or higher than a third place finish in the division, yet the expectations continue to remain high. Former Jags coach and two-time Super Bowl champ with the Giants Tom Coughlin was brought back to lead the football ops. He coached the team during their only division winning seasons, but does he still have the magic?
AFC South Opening Odds at BookMaker.eu
Tennessee Titans +142
Houston Texans +153
Indianapolis Colts +515
Jacksonville Jaguars +585
Why the Jacksonville Jaguars Will Win the AFC South
There’s no question the Jags have the talent to make a run for their first division title since 1999, but just how far the team goes will depend on how Bortles handles a monumental season for him and the team.
The Jags selected Bortles with the third overall pick three years ago with hopes that he would be the franchise quarterback much like Mark Brunell was in the early years of the organization. Under Coughlin, Brunell led the Jags to two AFC Championship games in four seasons before hard times befell the club.
The position takes much of the blame when a team struggles and sometimes the criticism isn’t warranted. In Bortles’ case, it is. The Jags didn’t draft a quarterback, leaving the club in Bortles’ hands, but if his numbers don’t improve there is a good class of QBs in 2018. New coach Doug Marrone had a full on competition in camp and hopes pressure from Chad Henne can get Bortles over the hump. Bortles must cut back on the turnovers and improve his accuracy. He’s thrown 51 interceptions in three seasons and has completed just 58.8 percent of his passes.
The pressure on Bortles to produce mounted with the absence of a run game. The Jags ranked in the lower third in rushing offense in each of his first three seasons and haven’t produced a 1,000-yard rusher since 2011. In steps Leonard Fournette to change that. The fourth overall pick had a monster career at LSU running for 3,830 yard in three years and gives the team an explosive threat. He needs to have a great season to give Bortles the chance at having a good one.
The Jags addressed their needs on defense by signing Calais Campbell, A.J. Bouye and Barry Church. They were awful at creating turnovers last year and their seven interceptions were the fewest in the league. Bouye and Jalen Ramsey could combine to surpass that number and need to be ball-hawks in the secondary.
Why the Jacksonville Jaguars Won't Win the AFC South
This is the Jaguars we’re talking about. A team that has gone through many changes to its roster and still has failed to win more than five games in any of the past six seasons. Coughlin is back to try and resurrect the franchise, but his better days are behind him. Hell, the Giants cut him loose as coach after three straight losing seasons.
The key to the team’s success is also the reason why they’ll fail again. Bortles has been given every opportunity to develop and lead the team and he simply hasn’t done it. His turnovers exceed those of any other quarterback by a wide margin since he entered the league and there is no indication that his accuracy is going to improve. He’s never completed more than 58.9 percent of his passes in a season.
The offensive line has been a disaster and little was done this offseason to make it better. Bortles was sacked 34 times last season, which was an improvement from the previous two years, but not good enough. Fournette will struggle to run behind the line, the protection for Bortles will again lack and the offense will be stuck in mud.
The defense has potential but the group will be asked to do too much. The pass rush is a concern and the lack of takeaways doesn’t give the Jags a good enough chance at quick strikes. The division is up for grabs, but the Texans and Titans have shown steady improvement and the Colts will get Andrew Luck back at some point.
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