The Jacksonville Jaguars have been one of the worst teams in the NFL over the last several years. The franchise hasn’t made it to the playoffs since back in 2007 with David Garrard at quarterback. Since 2013, they’re 12-36 when Gus Bradley took over the helm coming over from Seattle as their defensive coordinator. The Jaguars were in a very rough spot when he came in with Blaine Gabbert behind center and they lacked talent up and down the roster.
No Excuses in 2016 for Gus Bradley, Jaguars
To begin the new era in Jacksonville, they let go of some key veteran players such as Rashean Mathis, Derek Cox, Greg Jones, Terrance Knighton, etc. going with the full rebuild approach. They decided they wanted to blow the whole organization up and start from the ground up, which would obviously cause some rough years ahead. Ultimately, starting fresh is probably what this organization needed.
Bradley has had to endure some seriously rough years with this approach however. It was really last year when many people began to blame him for what had taken place on the field. Most people realized that they were starting a lot of young players and it would take time to develop them.
Not until 2014 did they get their franchise guy at quarterback in Blake Bortles with the third overall pick. Bortles was widely viewed as a raw prospect that would need some time developing before he could really get this team going. That was very evident in his rookie campaign where he threw 11 touchdowns versus 17 interceptions.
Last year, we finally saw what most had seen Bortles developing into as he worked in the off-season with Tom House, a quarterback guru out in California. Some of his clients include Tom Brady and Drew Brees. You add in the fact they have one of the most prominent young tandems at wide receiver in the NFL in Allen Robinson and Allen Hurns. You also have one of the better red zone targets at tight end with Julius Thomas.
They truly have the resources to be a top end offense come 2016. They have some issues along the offensive line. But they were without their best offensive lineman last year in Brandon Linder who had played at an all-pro level the year before. With the additions of Kelvin Beachum and Mackenzie Bernardeau, this unit should be well improved barring injuries this season.
While concentrating on the offense the last few off seasons, the defense has been very much neglected. Last year they took Dante Fowler at the top of the draft which was supposed to help their brutally awful pass rush. However, he went down with a torn ACL in rookie minicamp. They had a starting defensive unit that had a lot of underwhelming talent starting and/or playing prominent roles for them last season. Some of those names include Sergio Brown, Tyson Alualu, Chris Clemons, Andre Branch, and a plethora of different OTTO linebackers getting a lot of playing time. Dan Skuta, the starting OTTO who already fits in better as a depth guy than a starter, battled injuries a lot of the season.
This off-season, David Caldwell, the Jaguars general manager, and Coach Bradley realized that if they want to take that next step, the defense needs to improve and improve quickly. They decided to go spend big in free agency and nab Malik Jackson, a key cog in that elite defense from Denver. They also brought in Tashaun Gipson and Prince Amukamara to shore up the secondary.
In the draft, they were able to get Jalen Ramsey who was surprisingly there at fifth overall and a falling Myles Jack. The former UCLA linebacker was a consensus top five draft prospect by most before issues with his knee came up. As a result, the Jags nabbed him in the second round. You can’t forget about Yannick Ngakoue, who was taken early in the third round and had very good success getting after the passer out of Maryland, as well as Sheldon Day who is very disruptive inside out of Notre Dame. They had a very good draft class on paper, and if these players can play up to their potential, this defense can become very good in a hurry.
Bradley has his faults, and ultimately he may very well be fired this season if things don’t go as well as they probably should. He hasn’t exactly been in a great situation the past few years though. The offense has a lot of talent to work with, as we saw. The defense was filled with a lot of young players and journeymen since he took over and it showed last year. With a defense that now has some serious talent, although still very young, this team has a chance to definitely take a solid step forward if they come in and play well early. The arrow is definitely pointing up now. It’s time for Bradley to show that this year. Another season under .500, depending on how things go, will likely end the Gus Bradley era in Jacksonville.
