The Jacksonville Jaguars have been at the bottom of the NFL heap for the past eight years. Their last winning season was under then Head coach Jack Del Rio when they went 11-5, losing in the divisional round of the playoffs to the New England Patriots. In 2013, current Head Coach Gus Bradley’s first year, the Jaguars had a record of 4-12. Last season they ended with one less win at 3-13.
The good news is that in 2014, General Manager David Caldwell set out to change the culture of this organization. In the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft, Jacksonville had the third pick and with it, they took quarterback Blake Bortles out of the University of Central Florida. He ended up a very solid pick for the Jags because this team hadn’t had a franchise quarterback since the days of the retired Mark Brunell in 2010 and 2011. They also drafted two solid wide outs in Marquise Lee and Allen Robinson. These selections were building blocks that needed to be laid down to build a solid foundation.
That season, the Jaguars’ draft was very balanced, addressing several needs on the offensive line and at key positions on the defense. Even though it didn’t show up in their record last year, you could see that Management had a plan.
In 2015, the Jags have looked to add more solid pieces through free agency. They wanted to be very aggressive. Cadwell had five guys that he was looking to target and he landed three of them.
First the GM went and got his quarterback a main weapon, tight end and two-time Pro Bowler Julius Thomas from the Denver Broncos. Thomas had 43 receptions for 489 yards in 2014 and, while those stats not are stunning, he also had 12 touchdowns. Thomas provides Bortles with a tremendous deep threat in the passing game and, at 6’5”, an outstanding red zone target… a target badly needed for a team that was last in the league with a 15.6 points average-per-game.
The team also added some much needed help in signing offensive tackle Jermey Parnell. Parnell provides a level of physicality that can greatly improve its offensive line. In 2014 with the Dallas Cowboys, he only allowed one quarterback hit and zero sacks. Having him will help Bortles to be more comfortable in the pocket and greatly improve the Jaguars’ running game.
Next they addressed a huge problem the Jags had last year with their defense. This squad allowed 25.8 points per game and opponents averaged almost 400 yards per game. These two stats ranked them 26th in the league. Some changes needed to be made, additional help had to be brought in and they did just that.
Jacksonville added a solid guy in defensive lineman Jared Odrick from the Miami Dolphins. His stats may jump off the page in terms of sacks (he had one last season) but they got a guy that can be a huge presence in the middle of a defense. Pushing the pocket and making solid tackles is his job, something he did very well in Miami. He logged 29 tackles (23 solo) in 2014.
The Jaguars also signed cornerback Davon House from the Green Bay Packers, linebacker Dan Skuta from the San Francisco 49ers and free safety Sergio Brown from the Indianapolis Colts.
A football team is only as good as its defense. If the Jaguars can dictate to teams what they will allow them to do on offense, they will be able to have more control in football games giving them a better chance to win. With the addition of these experienced players, this team is greatly enhanced.
Jacksonville fans may not be able to tell by the team’s record but, this organization has a plan and they have done an excellent job executing it so far in this new 2015 off-season. No doubt, it’s a plan that will lay the groundwork to a more competitive team.