Heading into the 2016 NFL season, the wise-guy pick for a surprise playoff spot were the Jacksonville Jaguars.
They looked to have all the pieces in place to make a serious run in a weak AFC South division. As it turns out, the division is indeed weak, but the Jaguars can lay claim to being the weakest of the bunch with a dismal record of 2-11 with 3 games remaining on the season.
While the Jaguars only won 5 games last season, the offense showed great promise behind the efforts of starting QB Blake Bortles, who threw for 4,428 yards and 35 TDs with 18 interceptions. The general feeling was if he could learn to take better care of the ball, he and his young corps of receivers could show enough improvement to cause major problems for defenses throughout the league.
That group of receivers included Allen Robinson (80 catches, 1,400 yards, 14 TDs) and Allen Hurns (64 catches, 1,031 yards, 10 TDs). If 2nd year back T.J. Yeldon could improve on his 740 yards rushing in just 12 games, this would be an offensive juggernaut in the making.
“The best laid plans of mice and men” doesn’t always work out as desired.
A look at the offensive numbers this season shows an absolutely frightening turnaround that no one could have predicted. The team’s fans have been left stunned as the Jaguars flounder from one week to the next, trying to find the same magic they had on offense just one short year ago.
With 3 games remaining, it is clear that Bortles has not yet learned how to take better care of the ball.
His passing numbers are ordinary, sitting at 3,187 yards and 21 TDs. Unfortunately, he has personally turned the ball over 19 times, second worst in the league. It follows that the numbers for his receivers would also suffer, but Robinson and Hurns have fallen off the charts with a combined 92 catches, 1,116 yards and 9 TDs.
Even worse for the Jaguars offense has been Yeldon’s performance. He leads the team in rushing, but has just 432 yards and only one TD this season.
It’s quite possible that expectations were placed too high on a very young team that was coming into the season with issues on defense and the offensive line. The fact many gamblers might have wasted a Betfred promotional code betting on this team is a testament to how wrong so many have been about the Jaguars expectations.
Moving forward, the Jaguars organization needs to take a look at each and every player to determine who really has the talent to play in the NFL at the highest level.
In just his third season, it’s too early to give up on Bortles, who threw for more than 4,400 yards in just his second year as a starter. However, sixty turnovers in 43 games is a legitimate cause for concern. The man who really might be at risk is Yeldon. He has yet to show the same explosiveness in the NFL that made him an All-American at Alabama. It will be interesting to see what happens in the off-season.
The Jaguars are likely to land the second pick in the NFL Draft, and they had better use it wisely.