Jacksonville Jaguars
The same thing was pretty much said last year after Jacksonville added defenders Jalen Ramsey and Myles Jack in the draft. That was only magnified with the return of 2015 first-round pick Dante Fowler Jr. after he missed his entire rookie season to injury.
What people weren’t banking on was a Jaguars offense set for major regression from the previous season. Blake Bortles continued his turnover-prone ways, throwing another 16 interceptions while turning the ball over 20 times. Meanwhile, wide receivers Allen Robinson and Allen Hurns struggled after putting up 1,000-plus yard performances the previous season.
While Jacksonville’s defense was improved, its offense took a major step back. Adding to the issues here was a running back tandem in Chris Ivory and T.J. Yeldon leading a bottom-10 rushing attack.
After setting out to improve their defense even more in free agency with the additions of veterans Calais Campbell, A.J. Bouye and Barry Church, Jacksonville figured going offense early in last week’s draft made a ton of sense.
In this, Jacksonville added the consensus No. 1 skill-position player in the draft in the form of LSU running back Leonard Fournette. By all possible standards, Fournette is a three-down back with the potential of putting up 1,500-plus yards as a rookie.
This pick does two things. First off, it gives the Jaguars a reliable running back to depend on. That will create balance on an offense in desperate need of it. Secondly, it takes the onus off Blake Bortles to toss the rock 40-plus times on a consistent basis. This is one of the reasons Bortles has struggled with turnovers in his first three seasons as the Jaguars’ starter. That likely won’t be the case in 2017.
Now add in the fact that Jacksonville traded up for former Alabama All-American tackle Cam Robinson in the second round, and that weakness was addressed as well. Robinson will likely slide in as the starting right tackle, creating a much better book end tandem to go with the recently acquired Branden Albert.
All this seems to be a clear indication that Jacksonville will indeed find a way to compete with Tennessee, Houston and Indianapolis in what promises to be an improved AFC South this upcoming season.