Jacksonville Jaguars
AFC South Draft
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The NFL Combine is currently happening in Indianapolis. Personally, I don’t put too much stock in to the workouts that we see there. I think what we’ve seen on film really gives us an accurate idea of how good a player is.
The AFC South is one of the weaker divisions in the NFL. Jacksonville shocked the world by advancing to the AFC Championship game and they actually played well enough to beat New England. Let’s take a look at each team’s draft needs.
#3 Indianapolis: The Colts (4-12) obviously had a disappointing season. Andrew Luck missed the entire 2017 season with a shoulder injury. He’s supposed to return in 2018 but we will see. There are several positions that can be addressed like running back, offensive line, cornerback, defensive end and outside linebacker.
The Colts need to protect Luck so offensive line is very important. They also need a pass rusher because they finished 31st in sacks (26) and 26th in QB hits (75).
NC State defensive end Bradley Chubb would be a good pick. He’s 6’4, 275 pounds and he’s shown he can cause Havoc in the backfield. He had 10 sacks in 2016 and 2017 with over 20 tackles for loss as well both seasons.
#68 Houston: The Texans (4-12) moved up in the draft last year to draft a franchise quarterback (Deshaun Watson), which paid off. Unfortunately, Watson’s season ended with a torn ACL. Now Houston does not have any picks in the first two rounds. They do have three picks in the third round.
The biggest team needs are defensive back, offensive line, running back and tight end. I’m not sure what players will still be available in the third round so I can’t make a draft prediction for the Texans.
#25 Tennessee: The Titans (9-7) had a pretty good season. They made the playoffs for the first time since 2008. They won in the first round at Kansas City. They have a lot to be proud of.
Tennessee has a franchise quarterback in Marcus Mariota. He’s the first Titans QB to throw for 3,000 yards in consecutive seasons since Steve McNair in 2002-03. Heading into his fourth year Mariota is expected to become a top-10 quarterback.
Team needs are offensive line, cornerback and running back. The running game has been very strong the last two years but the Titans are likely to release DeMarco Murray, saving $6.5 million under the cap. Derrick Henry is probably not going to be handed the feature back role without competition.
Washington defensive tackle Vita Vea might be picked here. He would be a nose tackle in their defense.
#29 Jacksonville: The Jaguars (10-6) had an amazing 2017 season. They got to the playoffs for the first time in a decade. They were ranked 2nd in total defense. Rookie running back Leonard Fournette was 8th in rushing with 1,040 yards and 9 touchdowns.
The formula of good defense and a strong running game can win on the road in the playoffs. That’s why the Jags were able to beat Pittsburgh (again) in the second round of the playoffs. They also led New England for most of the AFC Championship.
Quarterback Blake Bortles is looked at as being a weak link but he just signed a three-year contract. I don’t think he’s an elite level talent but he’s pretty decent.
The biggest team needs are offensive guard and middle linebacker. Ohio State OG/C Billy Price will address that need.
Bortles Breaking The Bank
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
When I initially heard Jacksonville had extended the contract of Blake Bortles (3 yr/$54 million; $26.5 million guaranteed) the first thing that popped in my head was “Tom Coughlin has some terminal illness and the doctors are treating it with medical marijuana.”
You see, the only explanation I could come up with as to why Coughlin would extend Bortles’ contract was that when he made this decision he had to have been sitting on his couch, stoned out his mind, eating powdered donuts, and watching “The Big Lebowski”.
Not many people wanted one more year of the Blake Bortles Experiment, let alone three. Of course, the more I read and thought about it, the more I actually liked the move.
For starters, Jacksonville just freed up $9 million in cap space for this upcoming season. Bortles was scheduled to clear $19 million dollars, instead of the $10 million he will now make.
As close as the Jaguars were to winning the AFC this year, having an extra $9 million to either bring in new players (a wide receiver perhaps), or resign current ones, is extremely valuable.
Secondly, when it comes to the going rate for a starting NFL Quarterback, especially one who just played in a Conference Championship (regardless of how vital he may or may not have been in achieving that), Jacksonville is getting Bortles on the cheap.
Obviously, Coughlin and Doug Marrone see something in the soon to be 5th year quarterback that makes them feel comfortable about having Bortles lead this team, at least for next year.
It’s also very possible that both Coughlin and Marrone were not all that impressed with the available quarterbacks on the market and figured their best chance going into next season was to stick with the quarterback they already have. A “Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t” scenario. I’d put my money on the latter.
Plus, and I know this isn’t how Jacksonville is hoping this turns out, but if Bortles continue his less than stellar play, they’ll have a couple options at their disposal. The Jaguars could release him, which is what most people would probably expect.
Financially, it would be a bit of a hit, but minimal enough that it makes this extension worth the risk. They could also try and trade him; his contract did just become a little more appealing to other teams. I’m not saying Jacksonville would be able to get much in return, but in a year where backup quarterbacks played such a large role, a team could do worse than having Bortles as their backup.
Personally, I don’t believe Blake Bortles is the long term answer for Jacksonville. Besides his 2nd season and a handful of games here and there in which he played well, there hasn’t been anything I’ve consistently seen that makes me think next season will be any different than the last two.
But, when you consider Coughlin had already committed to bringing Bortles back next year, I completely understand why this extension happened.
There are a variety of reasons a team may extend a quarterback’s contract- play; money; they don’t like the other options that are out there. Like in most professions, the reason why isn’t nearly as important as what the person does with the opportunity.
With the Jacksonville Jaguars being so close to reaching their ultimate goal of playing in the Super Bowl, Coughlin and Marrone are hoping Bortles will make the most of his. However, they’ve taken the necessary steps, just in case he doesn’t.
Jason Bishop Show w Kipp Branch Feb 24
Who Will Win AFC South?
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
We are in October and the first quarter of the NFL season is in the books.
It’s almost too early to really know the contenders and pretenders. In previous years, teams have started the season 5-0 or 6-0 and still missed the playoffs. I’m going to try to determine how the teams in the AFC South will fare the rest of the season.
Jaguars Preview
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
In sports the question ‘will this be the year’ associated with particular fan base is always comes up right before the beginning of a new season.
In these parts, you can ask this question in regards to the Georgia Bulldogs, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Florida Gators, Atlanta Falcons, and the list goes on.
Today we are going to ask this question about the Jacksonville Jaguars. Coming off a draft where the Jags added Leonard Fournette to spice up the running game and Cam Robinson to shore up an offensive line you start asking yourself why can’t this be the year for Jacksonville?
Sunshine State Football
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
There are a lot things to love about Florida: weather, beaches, plenty of activities to keep you busy.
Coincidentally, a majority of those positives can easily turn into negatives. (Seriously, what kind of masochist enjoys visiting Orlando in July.)
You can go ahead and add Florida’s three NFL teams under both categories. They’ve all had their struggles over the past decade or so, but there’s good reason to think better days are on the horizon.
All three teams had high expectations entering last season. Miami and Jacksonville were both thought of as playoff contenders; to a point some people looked at them to be dark horses to win their respective divisions.
Tampa wasn’t exactly looked at to be a contender, but the expectation for drastic improvement upon their previous season certainly was there.
Two of the teams kind of hit their mark. One, not so much. Jacksonville had the type of season that would’ve made someone like Kelly Anne Conway want to pat the whole organization on the head and say, “Shhh. Mama knows. Mama knows.”
To compare the Jaguars’ season to a dumpster fire would be doing a disservice to dumpster fires everywhere. Blake Bortles is going to get a majority of the blame and he certainly deserves the lion’s share of it, but he was far from the only player that underachieved.
However, I do like the fact they brought in Tom Coughlin and Jacksonville does have some young talent to go with the free agents they’ve brought in.
Those are a few of the things for Jaguar fans to like about this team. Unfortunately, for those same fans, at the risk of beating a dead horse, picking it up off the ground and body slamming it as if I was running for political office in Montana, it’s all going to depend on Bortles. Good luck.
Miami did at least make it to the playoffs, although it wasn’t by much. About halfway through last season I wrote about Tannehill’s struggles, only to have him immediate follow my article and put together the best stretch of his career.
The defense has been better than perceived and as long as Adam Gase doesn’t wait until Week 5 or 6 to realize Jay Ajayi is on his team, the Dolphins have the making of a team that could be fun to watch for the next few years.
Tampa didn’t make the playoffs last year, but you could see the potential. Jameis Winston is coming into his third season and is going to have enough offensive talent around him that he could probably throw left handed and still put up All-Pro numbers.
Before the season began I was extremely critical when Tampa fired Lovie Smith and promoted Dirk Koetter. It’s only been one year, but so far so good. Out of all three teams in the Sunshine State, the Buccaneers probably have the brightest future, as it stands right now.
When it comes to professional football the state of Florida hasn’t had much to cheer about, on any type of consistent basis. If things continue to progress as they should, both Miami and Tampa Bay will bring a little more joy to their respective fan bases over the next few years. They are certainly on the right path to get there.
As for Jacksonville….well, I guess Meatloaf was right when he sang Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad.
Sorry Jacksonville fans, I just don’t see it happening.
The Game May 13
The Game May 6
What Does Leonard Fournette Bring To Jags?
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
On draft night as I sat in the living room of maybe the biggest Jaguar fan I know we were joking around about who Jacksonville would select.
Then to the joy of the Jaguar Nation the Commissioner uttered these beautiful words, ‘with the fourth pick of the 2017 NFL Draft the Jacksonville Jaguars select Leonard Fournette running back LSU’ and the Jags instantly became contenders in the AFC South.
Jaguars Draft
By: Jason Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Jaguars came into the 2017 NFL draft on the heels of a very disappointing 3-13 season. The poor 2016 season was preceded with a 5-11 record in 2015 and 3-13 in 2014. You get my point right?
There were high expectations coming into last season as far as improving the team. Several free agent signings and a couple of really good drafts made things look as if they were improving. That did not happen, at least not in the sense of wins.
Head Coach Gus Bradley was fired and Doug Marrone has been named the full time coach after filling in as the interim. The Jaguars also hired former Head Coach Tom Coughlin as Team Vice President and now are applying pressure to starting quarterback Blake Bortles to turn the corner.
With all of that going on the Jaguars entered the 2017 draft with some glaring needs on the field as well. Jacksonville needed a serviceable running back, and to upgrade the depth on the offensive line. However, I guess when you are 3-13 there are really needs all over the place.
