Jacksonville Jaguars 2009 Preview

(Page 2 of 2)

2009 Outlook

Jack Del Rio returns in 2009, perhaps feeling his seat get a little warmer following an extremely disappointing outing a year ago. The team will have an entirely new look in 2009, literally, as they will showcase new uniforms this season.

But the new rags won't be the only new addition to this Jacksonville team. After injuries decimated the Jaguar offensive line in 2008, Jags GM Gene Smith made it a point to make sure that doesn't duplicate itself again in 2009.

Smith signed veteran tackle Tra Thomas to a deal in the offseason then added tackles Eugene Monroe and Eben Britton in the draft. With guards Vince Manuwai and Maurice Williams returning from season ending injuries a year ago, one of the new rookie Jag tackles could very well see some time at that position.

At running back, Maurice Jones-Drew will now be the main guy as longtime Jag Fred Taylor left in free agency for the Patriots. Jones-Drew will be joined in the backfield by Greg Jones.

At wide receiver, perhaps the Jaguars biggest weakness a season ago, the Jags completely overhauled the depth chart at this position. Gone are first round busts Matt Jones and Reggie Williams and free agent disaster Jerry Porter. Torry Holt was signed to fill one vacated spot, but Jacksonville still looks dangerously thin at the position.

Rounding out the new Jags depth chart will be Dennis Northcutt, Troy Williamson, and Mike Walker. Rookies Jarrett Dillard, and Mike Thomas should also see some playing time as the Jags try to find guys to play alongside Holt.

Defensively, the Jaguars will look very similar to what they did last season. They did however add two veteran safeties to their roster via free agency in Marlon McCree and Sean Considine.

Locker room nuisance Mike Peterson was released and wound up signing in Atlanta, but the Jags linebacking corps should be the strength of the Jacksonville defense with Daryl Smith and Clint Ingram being the highlights here.

Jacksonville will also hope to see much better play out of their young defensive line, showcased mainly by Derrick Harvey, their first round pick from a season ago.

2009 Prediction:

There's good news and bad news for the Jaguar faithful.

The good news is, this is a team that should not duplicate it's 5-11 record from a year ago. It should not be understated how hard injuries hit the Jacksonville offensive line, causing the Jags to almost instantaneously lose their biggest strengths as a whole.

The bad news is, while this team will improve, there are still some undeniable weaknesses on the roster that I believe they failed to address completely, particularly at wide receiver.

Torry Holt is on his last legs, literally and figuratively, and the guys playing behind him are very average at best. Maurice Jones-Drew also will now be asked to carry the workload a lot more than he has, and it's hard to say how well he can handle being an every down back for the first time in his career.

It also doesn't help that the Jags play in the strongest division in the AFC, and arguably the strongest division in all of football, a division that could very well field three playoff teams in 2009.

One of those three could be the Jaguars if they strike gold in the passing game and turn it around on defense.

Realistically speaking though, one of those three playoff teams will not be the Jacksonville Jaguars, as the weaknesses in the passing game will be too much to overcome in this strong AFC South

Predicted Finish: 7-9, 4th AFC South

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hassellbeck - VSN Writer

www.virtualsportsnetwork.com

• Previous
• 1
• 2
• Next

Single Page

The best Jaguars newsletter on the web