The Jaguars have played eight games so far, winning only two of them. The team has greatly underachieved because much was expected of them coming into the 2016 season. Based on how disappointing the year has been, it’s not difficult to single out which players have underachieved. Finding the overachievers, however, is quite the task, but a few players have managed to exceed expectations. With half of the season in the books, here are the Jaguars players that have underachieved and those who have overachieved.
Jacksonville Jaguars Mid-Season Overachievers and Underachievers
Underachievers
The underachiever list could go on and on, but the most blatant underachievers at the halfway point have to be Blake Bortles, Allen Robinson, Julius Thomas, and Allen Hurns. Bortles has had a rough year after having a fantastic breakout the second season. He’s always had difficulty with his decision making, but this year has seen him regress even more. Bortles consistently throws into coverage and makes his receivers adjust to his bad ball placement. These issues existed last year, but they were masked thanks to the big plays the offense could make. The big plays have been absent because of the lack of separation the Allen duo have created on their routes. Couple that lack of separation with shaky hands, and you have an offense struggling to move the sticks. Hurns had a crucial drop on a fourth down play in the Kansas City game that would have put the Jaguars inside the 10-yard line. Julius Thomas has not been the threat he was in Denver with enough regularity to warrant his contract numbers. He disappears for far too many games. With a struggling quarterback in Bortles, Thomas needs to be the safety blanket to keep the chains moving.
Bouncing Back
Out of the four, Robinson and Hurns seem the most likely to bounce back and potentially finish the season strong. They both have the tools and part of their regression are on Bortles. His inaccuracy only serves to make the duo’s job significantly more difficult. Oftentimes they have to bail Bortles out of a disaster, and other times they are being led right into a defender gearing to take their head off. Thomas’ and Bortles’ performances are more cause for concern.
Thomas has spent two seasons in Jacksonville and still hasn’t carved a place for himself in the offense. In 19 games, he has only accumulated 600 receiving yards and eight TDs. He had nearly 500 yards and 12 TD’s in his final season with Denver in 13 games. Bortles is two and half seasons into his young career and has only shown signs of being a good quarterback for one season. He has eight games left to see if he can salvage this year and gain any sort of confidence.
Overachievers
The players that have overachieved at midseason are Yannick Ngakoue, Paul Posluszny, and Jalen Ramsey. Coming into the year, all eyes were on Dante Fowler with regards to the team’s edge rushers. However, Ngakoue quickly stole the spotlight by registering four sacks in his first five games. The third round draft pick has already exceeded expectations, and his future looks bright as he continues to gain experience and improve his technique. Posluszny has 74 tackles in eight games and has been all over the field making sure tackles. Over the years, he has received criticism for his play because of his liabilities in pass coverage.
The defense hasn’t asked him to do as much in coverage this season which has helped Poz play towards his strengths. Jalen Ramsey has been phenomenal this season. He has really only played one bad half of football and that was a top ten receiver in Alshon Jeffery. Ramsey hasn’t collected an interception yet but has had a few key pass breakups. He tipped a ball into Tashaun Gipson’s hands in the Baltimore game, and Ramsey broke up the pass to seal the game against the Chicago Bears. For Ramsey’s play to be so high at this stage of his career indicates that he’ll be one of the premier shutdown corners in the league sooner rather than later.
Moving Forward
Posluszny is too old to expect much better play from him going forward this year and beyond. Ngakoue and Ramsey, on the other hand, have plenty of room to grow as players. Ngakoue has slowed down his rapid production, registering zero sacks in the last three games and only three tackles. Offensive tackles have more tape on him now and can adjust to his pass rushing moves. The next step for him will be to learn more counter moves and bring more pressure. Getting sacks are always great, but he needs to work on making his presence felt on passing downs more often. Ramsey has played so well that it’s hard to nitpick with him. He wants to be the best cornerback in the league. To enter his name in that debate, he must start generating turnovers. He only had three interceptions in his college career, so he will need to turn those pass breakups into interceptions if he wants people putting him in the conversation with a Richard Sherman or Patrick Peterson.
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