Jacksonville Jaguars: 5 offseason needs

The Jacksonville Jaguars are coming off their best season in over a decade. Here are their five biggest needs heading into the 2018 NFL offseason.

2017 was a magical season for the Jacksonville Jaguars. While they had been everybody’s pop team in the AFC for some time, Jacksonville finally put it all together to have its best season in well over a decade. The Jaguars went 10-6, earned the No. 3 seed in the AFC and won the AFC South for the first time since 2002’s realignment.

Built on an outstanding combination of pass rush and cornerback prowess, #Sacksonville totally became a thing down in Duval County. The Jaguars were able to get great play out of rookie running back Leonard Fournette and good enough play out of starting quarterback Blake Bortles to lead this team to its third AFC Championship Game berth.

Of course, the Jaguars would come up short on the road against the New England Patriots up in Foxborough. To be fair, most teams in football down win on the road in Gillette Stadium anyway, especially in the AFC playoffs. Jacksonville should be proud of how well its professional football team performed in 2017, but expectations have been raised entering 2018.

The Jaguars could be a candidate for a regression in the AFC, as they will be playing a first-place schedule in an ultra-competitive AFC South this fall. They will need to win this offseason if they want to keep a stranglehold on their division rivals. Here are the three biggest needs heading into the 2018 NFL offseason for the Jaguars.

Offensive Tackle

To be fair, the Jaguars are very underrated along the offensive line. It helps that head coach Doug Marrone specializes in coaching that position group. Though the Jaguars were magnificent up front in the ground game, they could use some help at either tackle spot in terms of pass protection.

While second-year player Cam Robinson should show signs of growth in 2018, the last thing the Jaguars need is Bortles to be compromised with pass rushers attacking him from the blind side. Robinson has tremendous athleticism coming out of Alabama, but is an inconsistent player at best in the NFL.

Even though it is not the most pressing need for the Black and Teal, it would be advantageous for the Jaguars to either sign a veteran swing tackle or draft a promising prospect in the upcoming 2018 NFL Draft. The Jaguars could use depth at that position group, as they are in win-now mode. They will not want a weak link to get in the way of their serious Super Bowl LIII aspirations this fall.

This would be more of a proactive move for the Jaguars, as it’s not necessarily a gotta have it move for them. However, this team will only be as good as Bortles allows it to be. If he can get another offensive tackle to make things easier for him in the passing game, the better it is for the Jaguars in 2018 and beyond.