With changes galore looming, Jaguars need successful offseason
JACKSONVILLE — Forget the Super Bowl window. That thing pretty much slammed shut on the Jaguars after the season went off the rails while going 0-for-October.
This franchise will soon be in half-rebuild mode. That’s because the Jaguars may bid goodbye to about 10 opening-day starters or key backups, all of whom will either be cut for salary-cap purposes or simply allowed to walk into free agency.
It wasn’t necessarily the organization’s plan after a 3-1 start, but when you’re 4-9 heading into Sunday’s home finale against Washington and a seemingly bright future has turned dark, the roster turnover tends to gravitate toward more players being purged and a reset button being pushed.
Nobody knows that better than defensive tackle Calais Campbell, an 11-year veteran who has seen more transition in his career than any player in the Jaguars’ locker room.
“The only thing guaranteed in this business is change,” said Campbell. “That’s every year, no matter how well you do or how bad you do. Usually, the worse you do, there’s going to be a lot more change.
“In this current situation we’re in, there’s going to be some tough moves and some guys upset. Sometimes, you think about the possibility of what kind of change is going to happen, but there’s no way to predict it.”
This might well be the most challenging offseason in Jaguars’ history simply because this team went downhill so quickly. The sense of urgency for front-office czar Tom Coughlin, providing owner Shad Khan keeps him employed, to make things right will be massive.
The dilemma for Coughlin, and whoever else will be in impact leadership positions in 2019, is this: Do the Jaguars operate with the intent of being a legitimate contender in 2019? Or do they take a more realistic view that a return to the playoffs might not happen until the following year?
When you consider the Jaguars will be in the market to not only replace quarterback Blake Bortles but likely have new starters at one or both safety positions, defensive tackle, receiver, right tackle, right guard and maybe another D-line position, they’re going to need a homerun offseason to be a factor in the AFC South again.
Remember, at this point, we’ve seen little or no evidence that 2018 draft picks Taven Bryan, Ronnie Harrison and Will Richardson all can adequately fill the likely impending voids left by defensive tackle Malik Jackson, waived safety Barry Church and offensive tackle Jermey Parnell, respectively.
That’s just three positions. What about the four, five or six other starting spots that figure to undergo changes? The scope of what it’s going to take for Coughlin, head coach Doug Marrone or somebody else to positively reshape the Jaguars is quite extensive. It’s not as bad as it was from 2013-15, but this sure doesn’t look like a quick fix.
If the Jaguars are going to get this derailed train back on track, what they need more than anything is a free-agency spree like 2017 when they landed cornerback A.J. Bouye, Campbell, Church (his play declined badly this season) and defensive end Lerentee McCray. Plus, something close to the 2016 draft bonanza when core defensive players Jalen Ramsey, Yannick Ngakoue and Myles Jack were the top three picks.
It’s not just replacing players almost certain to be out the door, but other changes must also be considered. Like plugging somebody else at middle linebacker and moving Jack to the outside because he’s too inconsistent at his current spot.
Given all the aforementioned changes, it speaks to the Jaguars’ challenging offseason because the top priority still has to be addressed.
Obviously, nothing is more important than identifying the next franchise quarterback, a path that could take the Jaguars in multiple directions. With a modest salary-cap number of $912,147, Cody Kessler will certainly be competing in training camp to be a backup or a potential bridge starter for whoever is the long-term answer.
Unless the Jaguars use valuable draft capital to trade for the Oakland Raiders’ Derek Carr -who has the most expensive price tag and best upside of potential veterans that might be available -- then they must invest a first-round draft pick on somebody and just hope he works out a lot better than Bortles.
The problem for the Jaguars is they need a ridiculous amount of things to fall in place. Anyone who thinks everything will be just fine once the offensive line, the tight ends and Leonard Fournette get healthy is buying fool’s gold.
It can’t be dismissed that Fournette is averaging 3.7 yards per carry in 19 career games. While there’s time for him to make significant improvement, it’s certainly not the kind of production that justifies taking him with a No. 4 overall draft pick. Combined with his consistent signs of immaturity, Fournette is trending toward almost being as big a blotch on Coughlin’s draft resume as Bortles is for GM Dave Caldwell.
Looking back, as good as 2017 was and as bad as 2018 turned out to be, you have to lean toward this season being a truer reflection of who the Jaguars are. The Bortles of last year is gone. Before he was benched for Kessler, and a suspect surrounding cast certainly impacted it, his confidence was nowhere what it had been last year or as recently as September.
When asked about why this season unraveled as it did, Campbell replied: “I don’t know what it was exactly. This team is way better than what we played. It kind of sucks.”
Now it’s tough to gauge what the Jaguars, about $10 million over the salary cap, will look like in 2019. Nearly half the primary starters from this season could be out the door, though they better not part with Campbell ($9.5 million cap savings) because his leadership value is as important as his production. Keeping or parting with defensive tackle Marcell Dareus ($10.585 million) will be another tough call.
The volume of offseason change is potentially staggering, which may include Marrone and Caldwell regardless of how the Jaguars fare against the Redskins.
Whether the leadership structure stays the same or gets a major makeover for 2019, the Jaguars have a ton of things to get right before they can think about making another Super Bowl run. As time goes on, it’s starting to look like 2017 was a one-year wonder.