{"id":24078,"date":"2023-07-22T03:18:57","date_gmt":"2023-07-22T07:18:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/?p=24078"},"modified":"2023-07-22T03:18:59","modified_gmt":"2023-07-22T07:18:59","slug":"taking-stock-jacksonville-jaguars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/nfl\/taking-stock-jacksonville-jaguars\/","title":{"rendered":"TAKING STOCK: JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BY ADAM GREENE<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I need to confess something before we get into this. I\u2019m a Los Angeles Rams fan. Sure, I try to be objective in my role here, but the fact that, since Sean McVay took over as head coach of the Rams in 2017, the Jacksonville Jaguars had served as a solid Triple-A minor league feeder program to LA, was something I appreciated. Whether it was former first round pick Dante Fowler, Jr., former first round pick Blake Bortles or former first round pick Jalen Ramsey, the Jags were consistently open for business or jettisoning former high picks and the Rams were right there ready to embrace these guys for title runs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Jacksonville hired Doug Pederson as head coach before the 2022 season, I knew those days were over. What no one would expect is Pederson to turn the team into not only playoff contenders, but playoff winners, in that same season. So, my hope of seeing an angry Trevor Lawrence want to resurrect his career four seasons from now in the City of Angels has now been completely ruined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It didn\u2019t happen overnight and the team opened the year 4-8, with wins over the pathetic Indianapolis Colts and hapless Las Vegas Raiders, but there was a clue something good was on the horizon when the team obliterated the heavily favored Los Angeles Chargers 38-10 in Week 3 and knocked off the Lamar Jackson-led Baltimore Ravens 28-27 right after Thanksgiving. Of those eight losses, seven of them were by a single score. That should have clued us in, but we, as a nation and civilization, ignored it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the only loss they suffered in blowout fashion (40-14 to the Detroit Lions), the Jags reeled off five consecutive wins, including a win-and-in game to get into the playoffs over the Tennessee Titans in Week 18. Along that stretch they knocked off the Dallas Cowboys, 40-34 in overtime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, you see, I have a personal rule. I feel that some teams make the playoffs every year that don\u2019t really deserve to be there. They\u2019ve benefited from an easy schedule or from injuries on other teams in their division. Maybe they\u2019re in an incredibly weak division like the AFC South or NFC South. Jacksonville could have very well been one of those \u201clucky\u201d teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those \u201clucky\u201d teams never win in the playoffs. Your lucky squads last year, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks, all made that quick Wild Card Round exit. Jacksonville, as home dogs, took out one of the NFL\u2019s current overly-hyped teams, those same Chargers they obliterated in Week 3, 31-30. The Jags were for real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And while they did lose in the AFC Divisional Round to the eventual Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs, It was, again, by a single score, 27-20.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lawrence finished his first season under a professional NFL head coach with a Pro Bowl invitation to go with a 9-8 record, a 66.3 completion percentage, 4,113 yards, 25 touchdowns and just eight interceptions. Travis Etienne, one of the few smart moves Urban Meyer made with the team, rushed for 1,125 yards and five touchdowns, adding 35 catches for 316 yards. Christian Kirk, a signing that was roundly criticized in the offseason, had 84 receptions for 1,108 yards and eight touchdowns. The \u201cother\u201d Josh Allen led the team with seven sacks to go with 57 tackles, 11 tackles for a loss, two passes defended, four forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. Fovesade Oluokun recorded a ridiculous 184 tackles, 12 for a loss, two sacks, five passes defended, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. Reyshawn Jenkins, Devin Lloyd, Andre Cisco and Tyson Campbell all picked off three passes each to co-lead the team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2022-23 Record:<\/strong> 9-8<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Playoffs:<\/strong> Lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Divisional Round<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2023 Super Bowl Odds:<\/strong> +2500<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2023 AFC Championship Odds:<\/strong> +1400<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2023 AFC South Odds:<\/strong> -160<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NOW WHAT?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once you make it into the club past the velvet rope, your job is to stay in there. The Jaguars\u2019 priority in the offseason was to keep most of what worked for them last season, which meant not letting many free agents walk. They also locked in tight end Evan Engam and defensive end Dawuane Smoot to new deals. Engram got a $41.25 million, three-year agreement. Smoot returns on a one-year, $6.25 million contract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking over their schedule<\/a>, they\u2019ll benefit again from the AFC South and I wouldn\u2019t be shocked to see them go 5-1 against their own division, if not 6-0. Playing the Chiefs in Jacksonville in Week 2 could be closer than people think, but I\u2019m still guessing it\u2019ll be a loss. After that, they have one tough game against the Buffalo Bills on Oct. 8 and won\u2019t face a 2022 playoff team until they host the San Francisco 49ers on Nov. 12 coming off their bye week. It\u2019s that post bye schedule where the team hits a rough patch, with consecutive games against the Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens. Another 9-8 finish, even with a superior team, is not out of the question, but this team could win as many as 11 games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE DRAFT<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In spite of their success, I wasn\u2019t enamored with Jacksonville\u2019s draft last season and they underwhelmed again in 2023. Their first-round pick was fine, Anton Harrison, offensive tackle from Oklahoma. It was their second rounder, Brenton Strange, tight end out of Penn State, where the draft went off the rails early. They made up for it with running back Tank Bigsby, running back out of Auburn, but RB was hardly a need, especially that early. Outside of Harrison, I\u2019m not sure any player taken will help the team significantly this season, so that\u2019s what landed them a C+ grade<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FREE AGENCY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Jags didn\u2019t light up the transaction wire in free agency, mainly, as I wrote before, keeping their own players from hitting the road. They did add defensive end Henry Mondeaux from the New York Giants, running back D\u2019Ernest Johnson from the Cleveland Browns, right tackle Josh Wells from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and kicker Brandon McManus from the Denver Broncos<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AFC SOUTH<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jacksonville could claim pretty definitively that they earned, at worst, the title of fourth best team in the AFC a year ago. And while I think the Ravens have passed them this offseason thanks solely to bringing in Todd Monken as offensive coordinator to replace Greg Roman and his Pop Warner offense, this is still the best team in the AFC South and a return to the AFC Divisional Round is not off the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Follow Adam Greene on Twitter <\/em>@TheFirstMan<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Connect with us our socials on <\/em>Twitter<\/em><\/a> and <\/em>Instagram<\/em><\/a> for the latest sports news, viral moments, betting odds and the occasional memes.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY ADAM GREENE I need to confess something before we get into this. I\u2019m a Los Angeles Rams fan. Sure,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":23658,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[129],"tags":[146],"class_list":["post-24078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl","tag-nfl"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24078"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24078\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24079,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24078\/revisions\/24079"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}