The Jaguars Look To Return To Playoffs

by PhoenixJaidin | 8 years ago | 0 Comments

After locking the AFC South down with an 11-5 record, the Jaguars found themselves quickly eliminated from the playoffs after a disastrous loss to the Cleveland Browns in the Wild Card Round.

Retaining all of their key components during the offseason, they cut their ties with several players who were no longer part of the vision of the Jaguars future, such as TE Marcedes Lewis and QB Chad Henne. Then, they proceeded to add pieces to fill out some gaps and holes, with the additions of speedy TE Will Tye, big blocking FB Anthony Fasano, versatile RE John Simon, and versatile hybrid LB Christian Jones.

And finally, moving into the draft, the Jaguars continued building their defense up, by taking superstar DT Jacorie Ballard out of Indiana University with their first round pick and stud CB Roshawn Avant out of Columbia with their second round pick. Replacing depth with the remaining picks, they took pass rushing OLB Churphy Richmond out of the University of Louisiana-Monroe, CB DeMikael Ricks out of Arkansas St, and QB Nash Doering out of Colorado St. They also added a pair of hard hitting safeties in FS Paul Otis out of Iowa and SS Diamond Bragg out of Michigan St. They also signed undrafted HB Cecil Hardwick out of Nebraska, to give more depth in the running back field and provide a future pass-catching option for the pass-happy Blake Bortles. Finally, they signed two undrafted rookies to flush out their secondary, with the additions of coverage FS Keron Turk out of Grand Valley St and big, balanced SS Stephen Milloy out of Richmond.

With the offseason acquisitions and draft selections, the Jaguars front office managed to maintain their dangerous offense, while strengthening and shuffling pieces of their defense, swapping hybrid linebackers Telvin Smith and Myles Jack.

Looking forward to the 2017 season, the Jaguars know they need to get off to a quick start, as all of their division matches get played in the first 10 weeks of the season. Then they close the season with a repeat of last year's Wild Card showdown with the Cleveland Browns.

Week 1: vs SF 49ers
Week 2: vs IND Colts
Week 3: at HOU Texans
Week 4: vs TEN Titans
Week 5: at SEA Seahawks
Week 6: at TEN Titans
Week 7: at NE Patriots
Week 8: BYE Week
Week 9: HOU Texans
Week 10: at IND Colts
Week 11: vs CIN Bengals
Week 12: vs PIT Steelers
Week 13: at LA Rams
Week 14: vs ARI Cardinals
Week 15: at BAL Ravens
Week 16: vs OAK Raiders
Week 17: at CLE Browns

The questions of the season? Can Blake Bortles repeat his success from last season, or will he slump and regress? Can TJ Yeldon continue to carry the load of the offense to force defenses to respect the run and open up the pass game for a wide receiver corps that comprises of Allen Robinson, Allen Hurns, and Marqise Lee? And can the defense continue the dominance that lead them to the playoffs last season, lead by reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year, Jalen Ramsey? The additions of the two future building block rookies at both the front and the secondary definitely bode well for a defense that was top 10 previously. Only time will tell, as the season kicks off soon!

During an interview, coach Tim "D'Ragin Asian" Klepper was quoted saying, "We will return to the playoffs this season. The goal now is to move past the Wild Card Round and find ourselves in the big game."