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Jacksonville Jaguars ready to “own the AFC South”

By Daniel Lago

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The Jacksonville Jaguars held their annual kickoff luncheon on Tuesday where they talked about a handful of topics, including a possible extension of their extremely lucrative series of games in London.

As far as current topics, the head honchos talked quite a bit about expectations for the upcoming season. The takeaway from their comments is owner Shad Khan, general manager David Caldwell, and head coach Gus Bradley all expect the team to compete and start pushing for a playoff spot this year.

One point that seemed to resonate with all 3 gentleman was the confidence in franchise quarterback Blake Bortles. Everyone knew the team was hitching their wagon to the young signal caller out of UCF when they shocked the world and selected him with the third overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, and the guys in charge appear to believe he can make a significant leap in year 2.

While I’m also optimistic about the Jaguars’ chances in 2015, I don’t think I would peg them as the impending “owners” of the AFC South. The Jaguars still have a lot of youth on offense that needs to develop around Bortles (all of the receivers and T.J. Yeldon), and the team still needs to figure out how they’re going to get a pass rush without any reliable edge rushers. Losing Dante Fowler Jr. to a season ending knee injury in rookie minicamp honestly didn’t seem like too big of a deal at the time, but he clearly would be starting and playing quite often if he was healthy.

I think the Jaguars have the makings of a potential wild card team or at least a ball club that can keep up with playoff teams and pull out close games. The AFC South crown certainly isn’t out of the question though.

Next: Jaguars set to extend London series

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