As long and oppressive as this offseason and dead season has been for football fans, there is hope on the horizon.
In less than two weeks, Jaguars training camp will open!
With this in mind, here are some of the things I am looking for in training camp.
1. Exactly how much of an upgrade will Nick Foles be over Bortles? Months before the Jaguars signed Foles, I maintained that if the team were to eventually move on from Bortles, it would and should eventually do so with a veteran QB, and I was thinking Foles or Carr mostly. In the right offenses, he has shown himself capable of doing some very good things. Under Chip Kelly in 2013, he threw for a 27-2 TD-INT ratio, which is insane. After a nightmarish experience under Jeff Fisher he almost retired, but instead had his interest in football renewed under QB whisperer Andy Reid. While he wasn't the starter, in his limited experience there, he put up decent numbers. He then returned to Philadelphia, and under Doug Pedersen, Foles took over for an injured Carson Wentz the past two seasons, and led the Eagles to a Super Bowl win over the Patriots, and another playoff run that fell just short against the Saints. But still there are the questions. Why wasn't he a starter, either in KC or Philly during his second stint? Why did his stint with the Rams go so disastrously? Then there is the possibility-no matter how remote or unpopular-that Bortles was not as bad as his time here might indicate. It's possible Foles may not be a substantial improvement over Bortles because Bortles wasn't so bad. Ultimately, like every other QB, Foles' success will hinge in part on surrounding talent. If the team can not provide him with an adequate supporting cast, his results may not be much better than Bortles. That said, I believe he will be an upgrade over Bortles. With this in mind, the remainder of the conversation will focus on the surrounding talent.
2. How long will it take the Jaguars to re-sign Yannick Ngakoue? There is an argument that the Jaguars-Ngakoue aside-is a loaded defense. Calais Campbell has had double digit sacks the past two seasons. Most observers believe the Jaguars got a day one draft day steal when Josh Allen fell to them at 7. Willie McGinest predicted a double digit sack season for the prized rookie. Myles Jack remains one of the most athletic LBs in the league and is a true three down player at a position where 3 down players are increasingly rare. Meanwhile, the secondary is possibly the best 1-2 tandem (if not trio if you count DJ Hayden) in the league with Ramsey and Bouye. But make no mistake, this team needs Ngakoue in the fold longer team to continue the dominant play. He is a leader by example and productivity, earning more sacks in his first three seasons than more highly drafted and heralded Bosa with the Chargers.
3. Outside of QB, the biggest question on offense is how the offensive line will rebound. By season's end, four of the team's five opening day starters along the O-Line were in injured reserve. There is talk LT Cam Robinson may not be ready to start the season. That would not be good if this is true. But hopefully, his injury is sufficiently healed for him to return against KC. Big ticket free agent Andrew Norwell had, IIRC a shoulder injury that sidelined him for much of the year. Linder, who has been an interior stalwart for this team since he was drafted in 2014, missed about half of the season with an injury. RT Jermey Parnell ended up on IR last year, and has been replaced by rookie RT Jawan Taylor. If Foles and the team overall is to succeed, the left side of the OL has to completely recover and rebound from their injury plagued 2018, and Taylor will have to be all the team hopes for.
4. Is Quentin Williams ready to fill in the void left by Telvin Smith's departure? Even with the occasional freelancing and lack of bulk to hold the point of attack, Telvin Smith was a playmaker and leader for this team and will be missed. The team unexpectedly drafted Williams in the 3rd round and continues to get a lot of criticism for the pick. That criticism will linger until he proves himself up to the task. Expect opposing offenses to attack underneath to the left flat until Williams-or whoever- answers that question.
5. Who will emerge as the team's playmakers at WR? While Cole showed big play ability in 2017 and early last year, his production fell off dramatically. Dede Westbrook showed some big play ability in his first extended action, and by the end of last year was the team's most consistent receiver. D.J. Chark was the second round rookie whose production disappointed last year. Lee got a nice contract extension, and tore his ACL and possibly MCL, missing the entire 2018 season. I'm betting he starts the regular season on PUP, if he is not cut with an injury settlement. The team added former Foles' teammate in KC Chris Conley, who has size and speed, but never seemed to put it all together. Terrell Pryor, a big QB converted to WR was added late, in addition to Marcus Simms. While there is potential, as Parcells' stated, "Potential is French for 'not yet worth a damn.'" There is nobody on the roster at this point that represents a matchup problem for opposing defenses. There seems to be nobody who opposing defensive coordinators have to game plan to neutralize.
6. How will the new coaches work out? One of the most unfortunate things about last year's collapse is the bloodletting that occurred on the coaching staff as the season wore down. Offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, OL coach Pat Flaherty, DL coach Marion Hobby and DB coach Perry Fewell were all let go. Those latter three guys coached positions of strength on this team, and each were responsible for the development of some good players at their positions and their units overall. Hackett also called some very good games as OC. What will their replacements be able to do? We won't know until the season starts, but right now, I remain skeptical, and 'm not sold those dismissals were the right move. One potentially strong addition is Capers, who is a "consultant."
To sum my thoughts....
OC: Hackett to DeFilippo-Push for now. I liked how Hackett called games generally, but Flip's work with Foles has to be a positive.
RB: Wheatley to Robiskie-Improvement. Wheatley wasn't bad at all, but Robiskie has been around forever and is still well respected around the league.
OL: Flaherty to Warhop-I would say for now that is a step down. Flaherty helped produce a season where the team led the league in rushing and was among the lowest in number of sacks allowed. Warhop has big shoes to fill.
DL: Hobby to Rebrovich-Right now a step down. Rebrovich was assistant DL coach under Hobby back in 2017, and before then was in Buffahole. But I know Hobby has developed Ngakoue, and Fowler. But we'll see.
Sec: Perry Fewell to Walton-I don't feel as bad about this move as I initially did after it happened. But Fewell has been around for a long time, and as I said, the secondary generally wasn't a problem while he was here.
Capers? Assuming the game has not passed him by, I think he can add some creative wrinkles to this defense, especially in terms of blitzing. That has been the most consistent critique of the defense over the past few years. If it's one thing Capers knows how to do, it's design a blitz.
7. Will Fournette have his head on straight this year? If he is healthy and reliable, he should provide the team with a punishing ground attack that will give Foles the balance needed for him to thrive. If not...if he has knucklehead moments like he had last year...then the season is likely to be a disappointment, as will his draft selection. By most accounts, he seems to have gotten off to a good start this offseason by training in Wyoming. But then he got the arrest for the suspended license (forgiven by Marrone), and missed some minicamps and OTAs when a new offense is being installed.
Worst to 1st. Curse Reversed!
