Jacksonville Jaguars
Where do Jaguars rank in bettering themselves this offseason?
The Jaguars under owner Shahid Khan have traditionally been one of the biggest spenders in free agency. This year was no different. Within a matter of days the Jaguars doled out nearly $170 million to secure the services of cornerback A.J. Bouye, defensive end Calais Campbell and safety Barry Church, among others.
But, were the Jaguars one of free-agency’s biggest winners? That’s the more pertinent question, and a question even more pertinent than that, especially in the wake of the draft and with offseason programs beginning to wind down, is whether the Jaguars might have gone on to be among the biggest winners of the NFL offseason.
Mike Sando of ESPN did, in fact, post that very question to a group of 15 NFL executives recently, but he didn’t stop at asking them how the Jaguars fared. Sando took the exercise 31 steps further and asked the group to grade the offseason work of all of the league’s 32 teams, and the findings are quite fascinating.
The entire poll can be found here, but for our purposes we’ll cut to the chase and break down the grades received by the three Florida-based teams, one of which received the highest grade. It wasn’t the Jaguars, though. It was the Buccaneers. They were given a grade of A-, same as the Patriots, which was just a tad better than the Jaguars, who were given a B.
The Dolphins came in third with a B-, with the executives agreeing in essence that the team may have spent a bit too much to keep the likes of Cameron Wake, Kenny Stills and Andre Branch. The consensus, though, was that it was better to spend that money to keep players they know rather than spend it on players they don’t.
“What’s really notable right now, is you have an offensive-minded head coach (Adam Gase) who is a play-caller and is empowered after a 10-6 first season, and they are drafting defense heavily, which is what they needed to do,’’ one executive said. “It (takes) discipline to do that.’’
The executive’s biggest takeaway from the Jaguars offseason, other than noting that they spent big to do so, is that they have forged a new offensive identity as a run-first team. The decision to draft Leonard Fournette fourth overall confirmed that, but whether that will make the Jaguars big winners when it matters most is still a point for debate.
“Every offseason, we think they get better,’’ one executive said. “I have no idea anymore. It looks like defensively they have a ton of pieces. Offensively, it is back to what it usually is. What is (Blake) Bortles going to be like? The pieces around him are very good on offense (and left tackle) Cam Robinson was one of the best picks in the draft.’’
As for the Bucs, well, it’s just hard to knock a team that set out to improve the weaponry around quarterback Jameis Winston and came away with wide receiver DeSean Jackson and tight end O.J. Howard. Those two additions alone took a team that, according to the executives, might have topped out at nine wins as it did a year ago and simply made it better.
“That offense is going to be really hard to play against,” one executive said. “DeSean has at least a year left, and then you add Howard.’’
It’s not a game that will go in “the Time Capsule” for NFL fans to watch decades from now, but Tennessee’s recent Mastery over the Jaguars continued Sunday with an ugly 9 – 6 win.
Both defenses played hard and played well, but in the end, the third of three Ryan Succop field goals with just over six minutes remaining was the difference, as Tennessee handed the Jaguars their first loss of 2018.
The Titans did not start franchise quarterback Marcus Mariota who has still been battling nerve problems from his elbow after a hit in the week one lost Miami. However, Mariota was forced into duty, when backup quarterback Blaine Gabbert suffered a concussion in the first quarter and could not return.
Speaking of not effective, the Jaguar offense would also qualify in that category. Playing for the second straight game without Leonard Fournette due to his injured hamstring, Jacksonville mustered only six first downs, 100 yards and 3 points in the first half.
The second half was about ball control and time-consuming drives. And Jacksonville punted twice and had a Josh Lambo field goal, but it was not nearly enough.
Blake Bortles, off of a four-touchdown game against New England last week, was mostly ineffective at sustaining drives, must less getting them in the end zone. He was 21 – 34, but for 155 yards only.
Backup running back TJ Yeldon carried seven times for 44 yards and third string running back Corey Grant 6 times for 11 yards. And, the credit goes to Tennessee’s defense, which smothered Jacksonville for much of the day at TIAA Bank Field by forcing eight punts for the game.
With the road win, the Titans assumes first place in the AFC South on the tiebreaker over the Jaguars, which combined with their season sweep last year means they’ve beaten Jacksonville three straight times.
Who: Jaguars (2-0) vs. Titans (1-1)
Where: TIAA Bank Field, Jacksonville
When: Sunday 1 p.m.
Spread: Jaguars by 9 1/2 (Courtesty VegasInsider.com)
The 2-0 Jaguars are ready to play host to AFC South rival Tennessee on Sunday and try to break the Titans 2017 headlock they put around Jacksonville in sweeping them.
Here’s what we are watching in their first match-up of the year Sunday:
Who’s running the ball in Jacksonville?
As we documented, both Leonard Fournette and T.J. Yeldon are banged up and were limited in practice this week. Fournette is unlikely to play or even if he is, he may not be that effective with a hamstring injury suffered two weeks ago.
Yeldon had 51 yards rushing last week against the Patriots in Fournette’s absence, but he has a sprained ankle. Yeldon is also listed as questionable.
If Yeldon cannot go, the third running back is Corey Grant, a four year veteran, who has only started one game in his career. Grant did have six catches and four runs last week in the New England win.
QB Blake Bortles played well without Fournette throwing four TDs in the win. He desperately needs some rushing attack for drive momentum and to set up play action.
Who’s the QB for the Titans?
Marcus Mariota has been battling an injury to the nerve in his elbow after taking a hit in the week one loss to the Dolphins. Mariota did not play in their win last week against Houston and is officially questionable for this game in North Florida.
If he cannot play, veteran backup Blaine Gabbert will fill in as he’s done the last two games. Gabbert was just 13-20 for 117 yards and a TD pass against the Texans, but he didn’t have to have great numbers.
The Titans got a fake punt TD pass, played solid defense and still won.
It’s possible that Mariota may try to play, but Tennessee coach Mike Vrabel will have use of both QBs, too.
Which leads to, will the Jaguars D lock down the Titans?
It’s no secret that the Jags want to win with defense, and this game is no exception. They were really good against the Patriots last week holding Hall of Famer Tom Brady in check for much of the day. Jacksonville is fifth in points allowed and seventh in yards allowed in the NFL.
Plus, Jacksonville still has one of the most feared pass rushes in the league, as Brady found out the hard way last week. In a critical third quarter sequence, Bortles had thrown an interception, but right away, defensive end Dante Fowler got the ball back on a strip sack of Brady.
They will need plays like that to get the win and keep their perfect season in tact.
More concern for the Jaguars running back situation at the conclusion of Friday’s practice. This is because not only is Leonard Fournette still questionable to play with his injured hamstring, but now so too is his backup, T.J. Yeldon.
Both players were limited in practice on Friday for Sunday’s game with the Titans. Yeldon has a sprained ankle suffered during Sunday’s win over New England 31-20. He did carry the ball 10 times for 58 yards rushing last week, which was a solid performance.
Coach Doug Marrone was his usual non-forthcoming self post Friday practice, when it came to conversation about the injured backs. However, you can use previous precedence and injury designation to draw some conclusions.
For example, Fournette’s hamstring was bad enough that he never returned to the opening game with the Giants, and even though he and the Jaguars said the right things leading up to last week’s game, he was unable to practice fully, was listed as questionable, and they held him out of the Pats game.
And with the understanding that we are not in the Jacksonville training room and don’t know the full updates, the fact that now Fournette and Yeldon were unable to practice fully at all this week, has to be a concern for the Jaguars running attack.
If neither of those two are active or, let’s say they are active but not effective, the third string running back is fourth year veteran Corey Grant. The former undrafted player from Auburn has been active for 35 games in his career including all 16 a year ago and the first two in this season.
He has only one career start, but Grant against the Patriots last week had six catches for 56 yards and four carries for 13 yards. And he’s clearly who Marrone and offensive coordinator Nate Hackett will turn to to establish the ground game and the play-action for quarterback Blake Bortles.
Again, there’s always the possibility that they were just being precautionary with Yeldon’s ankle this week and that with 48 hours more rest and treatment, he will be ready to start.
But, let’s just say that if you have the former Bama tailback or Fournette, you might need to look at other options for your Fantasy Football lineup this week.
-
Tampa Bay Buccaneers7 days agoArizona Uber driver sued Bucs Jameis Winston Tuesday
-
Florida State Seminoles1 week agoFSU’s “Rag-tag” Taggart team tagged, flagged and bagged Saturday
-
Florida State Seminoles7 days ago
No, Florida State is not getting rid of Willie Taggart
-
Tampa Bay Buccaneers4 days agoFormer Bucs coach Dungy- “You can’t make that move”