With iffy offensive personnel, the Jaguars must rely on big plays from their
defense. Even with a unit as talented as theirs, it’s hard to win that way week after week.
73
× THE DEFENSE BOUNCES BACK... T O
A POINT. Having first-round edge rusher
Josh Allen from Kentucky opposite the
unheralded Yannick Ngakoue and along-
side veteran Calais Camp-
bell reignites this four-man
rush, leading to sacks and
turnovers that the Jags
missed out on last year.
Losses at safety (Tashaun
Gipson) and linebacker,
however, keep them from
being as dominant as they
were in 2017.
× TELVIN SMITH’S SAB-
BATICAL HURTS. Speed and
awareness at linebacker are
essential to Jacksonville’s
Cover 3 zone foundation.
Myles Jack still delivers, but the D suf-
fers without Smith, who says he’s taking
2019 off for personal reasons.
× JALEN RAMSEY HAS CONTRACT DRAMA.
He’s the rare corner who can handle No. 1
receivers of all speeds and sizes one-on-
one. So coordinator Todd Wash goes on
the attack, calling a few more pressure de-
signs, which means more man coverage—
which only works because of Ramsey .
He will want the team to give him a long-
term extension, but 2020 cap issues
make that difficult.
× NICK FOLES LOOKS MORE LIKE A
JOURNEY MAN THAN A SUPER BOWL MVP.
The Jaguars simply don’t have enough
talent around the mechanical 30-year-
old QB, whom they signed to a four-year,
$88 million contract. Second-year wide-
out D.J. Chark improves on the outside,
but not enough to elevate a receiving
corps composed of role players. New
coordinator John DeFilippo knows how
to scheme for Foles from their days in
Philadelphia. But without
dynamic receiving backs
and tight ends, the wrin-
kles help only so much.
× DEFILIPPO IS AGAIN
PUSHED TO RUN THE BALL.
His reluctance to lean on
the ground game with a
bad offensive line in Min-
nesota got him fired last
year; now in Jacksonville,
he will again be asked to
emphasize the run by the
NFL’s most old-school of-
fensive regime, led by ex-
ecutive VP of football ops Tom Coughlin
and coach Doug Marrone. The Jaguars
have built around Leonard Fournette, who
has proved to be an inconsistent power
runner. But fortunately for DeFilippo,
Jacksonville’s line, though not as strong
as some think, is more than adequate.
The ground game improves in the sec-
ond half of the season, once the Jags
begin to rely more on man-blocking than
zone-blocking.
WHAT LIES AHEAD
SI’S 2019
PREDICTION
5 – 11
2018 RECORD 5Ð 11
SEP T. 8
VS. KC
SEP T. 15
@ HOU
SEP T. 19
VS. TEN
SEP T. 2 9
@ DEN
OC T. 6
@ CAR
OC T. 1 3
VS. NO
OC T. 2 0
@ CIN
OC T. 2 7
VS. N YJ
NOV. 3
VS. HOU
NOV. 10
BYE
NOV. 17
@ IND
NOV. 24
@ TEN
DEC. 1
VS. TB
DEC. 8
VS. LAC
DEC. 15
@ OAK
DEC. 22
@ AT L
DEC. 29
VS. IND
W
ea
kn
es
s
QB
25
RB
31
WR/TE
32
OL
14
FRONT 7
11
DB
7
SIM
ON
BR
UT
Y^ (
FOL
ES)
;^ M
ICH
AEL
RE
AVE
S/G
ETT
Y^ IM
AGE
S
JACKSONVILLE
