Jacksonville: Looking at the Next 4 Years

by pallen722 | 4 years ago | 1 Comments

The first 4 seasons as the Jaguars GM have been unforgettable. The critics were hard on us early saying we were years away from fielding a roster that could compete. That is not how I saw things, I believed we had the talent and just needed to fill some holes. The first few years could not have gone more to that plan, after a mediocre 7-9 season to start my career here, we went to work. That first offseason with 2 first round picks we brought in Isaiah Clifton with one pick and moved the other to get LT Terron Armstead, this alone was great, but it was the gift we never expected when we took a chance on the raw talent of Dan Archer in the 3^rd round. The team now had its backbone, and the following years would show, few players would leave, and a few would be added in the following 3 years, but it paid off with back to back to back AFC championship appearances and a super bowl championship in Season 63. It is now that many of the talent positions on this team are aging and the money is drying up that this job will become difficult. To hopefully keep the amazing fans in Jacksonville satisfied in the following paragraphs I will outline what will be done in the next two years to make sure we do not take a step back.

 

 

 

The above chart is the breakdown of the team as is during the season 65 offseason. With a quick study it will become clear what needs to be done and a plan can be put forth. Lets first outline the positions that we do not need to worry about.

QB1 – Dan Archer will be playing in his contract season this coming year and being that this man brought the city a ring a contract extension will be reached for him to remain a Jaguar.

TE1 – Eric woods will also be signed the following year as he has become Archers safety net across the middle of the field.

RG / RT – Cam Robinson will be signed this year to continue to hold down the right side of the line with Jawaan Taylor.

LE – Josh Allen signed a 5-year extension last season

RE – Yannick Ngakoue has two years left to play and as of this offseason Deandre Walker has been moved from OLB to back him up at RE. Walker has an additional year on his contract. As of now Ngakoue is being shopped for potential draft capital and will be this year and next.

DT1 – The jaguars defensive line X-factor Isaiah Clifton will have a 5^th year option on the table this year that we plan to execute and then extend his contract in the following season.

DT2 – Matthew Ioannides much like Yannick has 2 years left on his contract, he will be shopped for draft capital in the same manner. DT Tommy Thomas drafted in the 2^nd round 2 years ago, has made impressive development strides playing behind 2 greats he also only has 2 years left on his contract, but we plan to extend his contract to take over the DT2 role.

OLB1 – Myles Jack had signed a 5-year extension last year.

CB1 – C.J. Henderson will have his contract extended this year.

CB2/3 – With Sidney Jones playing his final year this upcoming season in Jacksonville if not traded during the offseason young talent Josiah Scott will move up to CB2 after proving himself playing nickel corner these past 2 years. This will open up the nickel corner spot to either Tae Higgins or Omari Redmond, both have 3 years left on their contract pay close attention to the development from these 2 players this year.

SS – Ronnie Harrison still has 3 years on his contract, and we have all intensions of giving him an extension when the time comes.

K – Josh Lambo signed a deal last year to stay in Jacksonville to much of the leagues dismay.

Now that is what we don’t have to worry about over the coming years and lets be honest it is a great group of players but if we want to continue to compete for championships we need to provide a roster that has no holes. Lets look forward to what we plan to accomplish in between the current offseason and next.

Season 65 Offseason

1. Fill the empty FS position. With both Montae Nicholson and Haha Cliton-dix leaving the team to test free agency there is a major hole to fill. We are already in talks with a few teams to acquire a player thru trades and that is our first option currently. If this is not completed, we are in talks with Montae to bring him back thru free agency and if both these fail, look for us to select a player with out first round draft pick.
2. Joe Schobert has been amazing for years but his career with Jacksonville is in its last year. Without having the best draft capital, we do not believe we will be able to find a talent to replace Joe in the draft or with trades. Between this year’s Free agency and next a MLB will need to be signed.
3. OLB2 Rueben Foster was a great FA signing a few years back but has also reached the end of his time with Jacksonville. We will search nonstop to find a true pass coverage talent to fit our play style in the first or second round of this draft.
4. RB1/2 with Fournette reaching the end of his contract and Lindsey now gone the position that has held this team together looks to soon be empty. We are already in talks to bring in an amazing talent this offseason via trade and will look to find raw talent late in this draft to develop into a RB2 when needed.
5. With only Eric Woods as a TE on the roster at this time finding a second has become critical. This will be handled via free agency as there is much talent to be had at this time.
6. Not having a punter may seem like a problem but not something we are worried about, we plan to test our luck in the draft and pick someone up in the late rounds. If that fails, there is still much talent to be found leftover in FA.

 

If those 6 steps go as planned the roster will be top notch going into this next season and many holes in the future will be filled. In the following offseason we are left with two major issues: offensive line and wide receivers.

Terron Armstead and Brandon Linder will both be at the ends of their contracts and the money to extend them for a few more years will not exist. We have already started the process of shopping these two amazing talents and will look to fill these holes in next years free agency period or draft class.

The final issue will be wide receiver. Dede Westbrook will play his last year in Jacksonville this coming season and D.J. Charks final year will follow to years later, we plan to try and work a deal with Chark to stay an additional year but that is still far in the future. We plan to promote our young WR prospect Dwayne Middleton to WR2 next season and look to the draft for young talent next year to fill in at WR3 with the other players already on the roster.

It is my hopes that this breakdown will provide you with confidence in my leadership and excitement for the years to come. Dan Archer will bring this town another ring.