JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jaguars enter their first full season with Doug Marrone as the head coach, looking for their first winning season since 2007. That was also the last time the team made the playoffs. Here are five key areas the Jaguars must excel in to have a winning season.
1. Be more physical. The move to change the Jaguars personality started with the drafting of Leonard Fournette. When I asked Tom Coughlin what message it sent to draft a running back in the first round, his response was all you needed to know about the kind of team Coughlin and Marrone envision. "The idea that you're going to run it because of what you have invested, the offensive line knows it," Coughlin said. "When you make this kind of investment, you're going to see 9 on 7, 11 on 11 running drills." That means that the Jaguars are remaking their image as a team of tough guys, a departure from what Gus Bradley emphasized.
2. Rush the passer. Over the past two years, the Jaguars have averaged just over 2 sacks per game. That ranks them in the lower half of the league. Dante Fowler hasn't been the factor as a pass rusher yet. He missed his first year with a knee injury and wasn't a major factor last season. Yannick Ngokoue showed promise last season as he set a Jaguars rookie record for sacks. The Jaguars will have to get more pressure from new addition Calais Campbell and perhaps from a different utilization of Telvin Smith. In the NFL, to be successful, teams must rush the passer effectively. The Jaguars have also been limited by falling behind in games, allowing opponents to run the ball more frequently.
3. Care about winning. The most talked about moment of Tom Coughlin's re-introductory press conference was his comment about making winning important...even joking (was he joking?) about winning lunch. Bradley focused on improvement. Coughlin and Marrone will focus on winning. That is a change in the culture, but not one that that will be difficult for players to embrace. For most of the team, its the kind of approach that most coaches take.
4. Defense has to live up to its billing. The Jaguars appear to have the personnel to be a top-tier defense in 2017. The additions of Campbell, cornerback A.J. Bouye and safety Barry Church should supplement the existing group that is highlighted by Telvin Smith, Paul Posluszny and Jalen Ramsey. One key player to watch will be last year's second round pick Myles Jack, who is being inserted into the middle linebacker spot that has been occupied by Posluszny for the past six seasons, with Posluszny moving to the strong side.
5. Blake Bortles. For any NFL team, the quarterback can be listed as the number one key, but we'll leave it a this: it's decision year for Bortles. Either he shows that he is the Jaguars franchise quarterback and the team is competitive, or they will be moving on to someone else next season. Bortles has to play at least as well as he did in his second season to prove to Coughlin and Marrone that he is an ascending player. He certainly was not ascending in 2016, some of which can be attributed to shoulder injuries.