Jacksonville Jaguars are ‘going for it’ in 2016

Nov 19, 2015; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan (right) and general manager David Caldwell before an NFL football game against the Tennessee Titans at EverBank Field. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 19, 2015; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan (right) and general manager David Caldwell before an NFL football game against the Tennessee Titans at EverBank Field. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Jacksonville Jaguars are impressing media members, other coaches, and, hopefully, the fan base enough that they are quickly being hyped as a team to make a push for the playoffs in 2016.

Whether it’s Pete Carroll or media outlets around the web, the Jacksonville Jaguars are gaining attention in the offseason.

That attention is leading some to speculate that the playoffs may be in the team’s near future.

Over the past three seasons, the Jaguars have never won more than five games. In fact, the five win mark of 2015 was the first time the Jags had gotten to five wins since 2011, which is a pretty terrible record.

But general manager Dave Caldwell and head coach Gus Bradley have been attacking the Jags rebuild in the right fashion, earning praise around the NFL despite not delivering the W’s.

This offseason is no different.

In an executive superlatives piece, NFL.com’s Conor Orr notes that Caldwell is the “most likely to be going for it” in 2016. “There are teams that sign expensive players in free agency just to mask their most glaring holes, and then there are teams on the verge of reaching the playoffs that add critical pieces to put them over the edge,” Orr says, putting the Jaguars in the latter camp.

For an offseason that was very much about filling holes, Orr’s take on the free agency spending frenzy led by Caldwell is interesting. It suggests that the 5-11 Jacksonville Jaguars are actually much closer to competing and being a playoff team than the recent track record and the just-filled holes would indicate.

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Less than a week ago I wrote that it’s too early to be saying the Jaguars are going to the playoffs. I stand by that, but if filling holes in the secondary and adding a couple of other pieces is all that it really takes to go from 5-11 to better than .500 and a playoff spot…well it sounds almost too good to be true.