Football
The Jacksonville Jaguars are looking to return to competitive football quickly this season with new general manager James Gladstone and head coach Liam Coen.
The franchise has been through a lot in the last six to seven months, having fired their previous head coach-general manager combo for a younger, innovative regime that has given the organization excitement from ownership down, along with a fanbase that has been waiting to maintain stability in competitive football for many years.
Free agency brought on several upgrades and new additions on both sides of the ball. Offensive linemen Robert Hainsey and Patrick Mekari add starting experience and valuable play to an offensive line that will be running a zone blocking scheme to allow for more creativity in the run game. The depth also improved up front with Chuma Edoga and Fred Johnson.
Dyami Brown was brought in to improve the possession ability at wide receiver. Then, veteran defensive backs Eric Murray and former long-time Dallas Cowboy Jourdan Lewis were added to the secondary to bring experience to a young group. The Jaguars also addressed their edge rusher depth concerns by bringing in Emmanuel Ogbah, Dawuane Smoot, and Dennis Gardeck to backup Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker.
The draft featured a blockbuster trade-up for two-way player Travis Hunter while the rest of the rookie class were participants in Janurary’s Senior Bowl, adding experience and toughness to the locker room as well as player that will provide key roles as rookies such as running back Bhayshul Tuten, guard Wyatt Milum, linebacker Jack Kiser, and defensive back Caleb Ransaw.
Overall, this was a productive and clean offseason for the Jaguars, a win in their books. However, how does it compare to the rest of the AFC South?
For one, Jacksonville has always had the talent to be competitive but lack structure as several key positions such as the offensive line, edge rusher depth, competition at linebacker, depth in the secondary, and young evolving talent at wide receiver. Many of those concerns were addressed this offseason and the Jaguars seem comfortable with the current state of the roster.
The Houston Texans, this year’s favorites to three-peat as division winners, have numerous question marks up front but made a few additions to the offense that could keep them competitive enough to go back-to-back-to-back.
The Indianapolis Colts still have a quarterback situation that needs a resolution, one that will be solved during the season, and the Tennessee Titans bestowed the No. 1 pick and made key additions with veterans at the skill positions with what is likely to be a below-average defense in 2025.
It feels like Jacksonville was the team that made the most strides this offseason. There are still some question marks on the team like who can emerge at running back, Hunter’s two-way dilemma, finding out of Anton Harrison and Walker Little are the future at both tackle spots, and if the defensive line and become a formidable unit like they look to be on paper.
Even so, the Jaguars won the offseason in the AFC South with their few key additions that weren’t incredibly splashy and a big trade in the draft that secured a potential franchise cornerstone at two positions at once.
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Read More Jared Feinberg