Jacksonville Jaguars Fan Forums

In another thread, I discussed the four reasons Jaguars fans have legitimate hope for improvement from 2014-2015.

 

This thread is about the opposite.  What are some of the things holding this team back in 2015?  What would limit this team's ascent from NFL dregs to average also rans to playoff contenders?

 

The way I see it, the key lies in the marquee positions.

 

There are four (4):

 

QB

LT

Pass Rusher

CB

 

To me, the very best teams have historically had a dominant player (or at least very good) at each of at least three of these marquee positions, in addition to good to great players at other positions.

 

The 1970s Steelers had the franchise QB in Bradshaw, dominant pass rushers in L.C. Greenwood and Joe Greene, and a dominant CB in Mel Blount.

 

The 1980s 49ers had Joe Montana at QB, Ronnie Lott at CB, and Charles Haley as the dominant pass rusher.  Washington, another dominant team of that era, featured, LT Joe Jacoby, CB Darrell Green, DE Dexter Manley.  The Raiders of the 1980s won two Super Bowls with a good QB in Plunkett, an all time great LT in Art Shell, great cover CBs in Mike Haynes and Lester Hayes.

 

The 1990s Cowboys had Hall of Famer Troy Aikman at QB, Charles Haley as a pass rusher, and later Deion Sanders at CB.

 

The 2000s Patriots teams feature Tom Brady at QB, Matt Light at LT, and Ty Law and Darrelle Revis at CB. Other dominant teams since 2000 include Baltimore (Ogden at LT, McCrary & Suggs as pass rushers, and McAllister at CB) and Indy (Manning, Glenn at LT, Freeney and Mathis as pass rushers). 

 

While our Jaguars are improved, I think this team lacks great players at some of the marquee positions to truly ascend to legitimate Super Bowl contender.

 

QB-Most of us are pleased with Bortles' progress thus far.  As indicated at other times, many feel he will be a superstar at QB.  Cecil Shorts has predicted as much, and Peter King and other media types at least see him as a QB on the rise.  But at this point, we can't definitively say he is a legit franchise QB.  He still has to do it.

 

LT-Luke Joeckel was drafted at the top of the 2013 draft with the hopes he would become a legitimate franchise LT.  Thus far, it hasn't turned out that way.  For various reasons, Joeckel has not developed the consistency as the blind side protector to shut down the opponents best pass rushers.  At times he has looked really bad.  Unless he develops into a top tier blindside protector, or until the team gets someone who will, this will hinder Bortles' development, the offense's, and the team's as a whole.

 

Pass rusher-This team has only had one player even close to becoming a dominant pass rusher-Tony Brackens.  It has made several attempts to obtain one since him that haven't worked out.  Hayward had some promise but tore his Achilles.  Aaron Kampman was old when signed from Green Bay and developed knee issues.  The latest candidate to try to fill that role is Dante Fowler, Jr.  Though he is passionate about the game and has the potential, right now he is rehabbing a torn ACL.  Until he can get healthy and be that pass rushing catalyst that creates sacks, turnovers, changes blocking schemes and momentum, this team will not win as many games as it will be needed to reach legitimate contender status.

 

CB-In its 21 year history, this team has never had a true shut down CB.  It came close with Rashean Mathis, who, in his prime, showed decent length and speed, and playmaking ability to change momentum in games.  Right now, this team appears to be deeper at CB than perhaps it has ever been, but right now, there does not yet appear to be a Revis/Sanders/Woodson type that QBs will have to avoid to be productive and shut down an opponent's best WR.

 

I think this team has the most important piece of the puzzle-the QB.  However, he has to develop into that guy.  In addition, right now, it cannot be said the team has any of the other important marquee players at these positions to make this team a legitimate contender. That will be apparent this season when we play the "elite" teams.

 

 

 

QB. Ability to stop big plays on defense (loose coverage and inability to tackle in run game).


Turnovers and lack of forced turnovers.

I believe we have pieces in place, unfortunately a position of weakness that is being seldom talked about would bosst this defense tremendously! You need a good, not decent, LB core to tie together the D line and CB play. We have been missing that for years and until that gets fixed, all else is just a band aid. All three pieces need to work together. Prime example: 2014 the D line was heavy in sacks because they were a strength, however, once teams were beyond the first level, yardage was abundant. This makes LB sneak up and big play happen more often. To try and cover for a weak LB group we not start cheating CB and safeties up which opens up big pass plays. Even with elite CB/S play, a weak LB core leaves open the middle where we get exposed. sound familiar? Bottom line, this team needs to addres the entire LB core to move forward. The LEO/OTTO stuff is smoke and mirrors.

I'm not sure Gus has enough 'football mind' to become even middle level.  I like him, just as many others do, but the words that come out of his mouth don't give me the confidence that he is the 'smartest guy in the room' football-wise.  He has done excellent work here in many areas, and I am still hoping he can show me something this year to change my mind, but deep down I just don't think he has the broader chess skills for the NFL.  

 

Bortles does look promising, but Henne is a hindrance, so to me they offset. I feel that Henne is actually hurting Bortles development. So with BB's inexperience, we have a net minus at Qb.  

 

Agree with the above as well, our ability to stop big plays at big times is sorely wanting.  This is a coaching issue as much as anything.

 

Turnovers - I actually thought last year we did well with the forced-fumbles, but INT's were almost non-existent.  All turnovers are important, but there is nothing as adrenaline inducing to a team as a sweet pick at just the right moment.  

 

We still have a very low opinion of ourselves..  and the rest of the league feels the same way.  The monkey on our back...  This is the single most important area that we need to improve upon.  Knock some top-tier teams out of the playoffs - that'll fix 'er.

In his prime Mathis was very good, but if I recall correctly he was playing in a predominantly zone defense. If he had accomplished the statistics he did under a man to man pressure defense he'd probably be considered a true shutdown guy. As for the rest, I agree. You can be successful in spurts without having elite guys at those positions, but lasting success tends to come with sustained playmaking ability at crucial positions. I think if Bortles is good enough he can make the LT look really good through pushing guys out of the box and playing the pocket correctly. Additionally if he does well he'll make the pass rush and DBs look better as he forces opposing teams to stop playing it safe and start holding the ball and trying to make tough throws to keep up.

 

I think it really can't be stated enough that a lot of what we thought was defensive success for the team in the past was actually just other teams playing things close to the vest and being unconcerned that the Jaguars could even realistically compete with them in the fourth quarter due to the team's inability to find a QB that would do something other than puking up their lunch under a pressure situation.

I like the point about the LBs.

 

Even though from a draft perspective, the trend is devaluing the position, lots of Super Bowl winning teams had good if not great LB corps.

 

Seattle didn't have any first round picks in its LBs, but their trio is a top notch group.

 

The Steelers seemingly have had good to great LBs dating back to the 1970s.

 

I think Telvin Smith has some big play ability in space.  He needs to be more stout at the point of attack.

 

But I think the other two guys need to be able to cover TEs competently.

Most of the Jaguars roster is young though, we may have these marquee players already on the roster. Players like Bortles, Thomas, ARob, Fowler, Telvin, Colvin etc. all have the potential to be the guys we look back on in 10 years like those guys you mentioned.

The defense is mediocre, lacking a base pass rush, lacking a tone setting LB corps, and no ball-hawking players in the secondary.

 

The offense is getting better, but currently is lacking the playmaking WR to truly put fear into an opposing defense.  

Quote:The defense is mediocre, lacking a base pass rush, lacking a tone setting LB corps, and no ball-hawking players in the secondary.

 

The offense is getting better, but currently is lacking the playmaking WR to truly put fear into an opposing defense.  

 

^^ This honestly.  The 2013 Draft is a big handicap on the rebuild.  I think we are a year behind in where we should be but it has more to do with that putrid draft.  You can only go with the resources available.  I don't want to be a gloomy gus but I just don't see the roster getting us where we want to go this year.  We need more talent.  We have bandaids and unproven guys.  Is what it is.  Thankfully the team has a better emotional appeal and stands up better to the "eye test".  I think we will see the proverbial "Up Pointing Arrow" this year.

The biggest gap here is at LT. 

 

Followed by defense.


QB is to be determined but we very well may have the guy.

 

CB is the same.  We might have our shut down guy in Aaron Colvin.  

I definitely see areas of question, if not necessarily stagnation. Left tackle is probably the least uplifting, as Joeckel needs to show he can be an average left tackle, let alone one of the best. pass rush is also a big question, as we have no idea if Fowler is the premier end we all want, and the others seems to be just a bunch of guys at this point. I think we are actually not that bad at corner, especially with Colvin, and I think QB is looking better than most of us expected (and most of us expected some solid improvement). 

 

Still, I recall the post that was made on another thread that showed some of our starters from 2 years ago. I can not call where our roster is now stagnant compared to the roster of two years past. My hope is that we hit on three of the four, in Bortles (most importantly), Fowler and Colvin. I also hope that by the end of the year we can objectively see Joeckel develop into a LT we feel is an average starter. If we can manage to see this (although we will have no idea about Fowler until next year), and have at least a 6-10 record, I think we will be in very solid shape moving forward.