By: Robert Craft

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

For a team coming off a playoff win in 2023, Jacksonville’s handling of prosperity might be an issue. This season, expect the Jaguars to be in hunting mode.

Being a hunter is a mindset that shapes messaging within a team’s development and morale. Finishing last season in the top 10 in points per game and third down conversion is hefty proof of promise.

In addition, their franchise quarterback has shown serious advancement in his playmaking ability; a good QB1  should make most folks rest easy in Duval County, considering what they’ve been through the last decade. Their competitive fire should have them targeting the gap between them and the AFC elite – this year that target is realistic for Jacksonville.

The Jags defense has ‘more hard to block’ players than any other team in the league. General Manager Trent Baalke has shown an impressive management style by adopting the one simple philosophy that analytic teams despise: drafting the best player available when it’s time to select.

The Jags were known for being driven by numbers and analytics when team building in the past. This season’s build is proof that old-fashioned eyeball evaluation (football sense, some call), can pair successfully with the objective statistical approach that Jags owner Shad Khan instituted upon acquiring the team.

Jacksonville has multiple pass rushers, but outside linebacker Josh Allen and defensive lineman Travon Walker are elite.

At the inside linebacker spots, they have athletic ability that most teams only dream about, with under-the-radar Foyesade Oluokun and 2022 first-round pick Devin Lloyd. Both fly around at a frantic pace, but once the game slows down for them, they will rival 49ers Pro Bowler Fred Warner.

My worry is that the results Jacksonville posted in 2022 are much less than the individual parts are capable of. They do lack some cover skills in the secondary as evidenced by their ranking of 29th in the league in getting off the field on third downs, and their 35 sacks as a team, which tied for 25th most, is mind-boggling.

These are unacceptable results for a team that blitzed on a division-high 25 percent of snaps.

This defense needs to come together in its second year under coordinator Mike Caldwell. The rise of the Jags to a level needed to compete with the Bills, Bengals and Chiefs is predicated on getting more out of its talented crew on defense.

Oh yeah, and if I had a couple of extra bucks, I might just throw it down for giggles on Walker as the AFC Defensive Player of the Year. He’s that good.

With the four-game suspension Cam Robinson for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing substances, the Jaguars must find way to protect their franchise quarterback.

This team will go as far as Trevor Lawrence can take them — and there’s potential for that to be pretty far — but it’s asking a lot of him to outduel some of the AFC’s premier quarterbacks if the defense doesn’t generate enough pressure.