Can 2016’s Jacksonville Jaguars be 2015’s Carolina Panthers?
By Luke Sims
Jacksonville Jaguars defensive back Davon House made some headlines when he said the Jags could make a leap similar to the Carolina Panthers in 2015.
Davon House is certainly bold. The best play maker on the 2015 Jacksonville Jaguars secondary, House recently came out with a bold claim that the 2016 Jags could be the team to make a leap comparable to what the Carolina Panthers did (per the Florida Times-Union).
The Panthers were 7-8-1 in 2015 but jumped out to 15-1 and a Super Bowl appearance in 2016, completely dominating the league until a collapse to the Denver Broncos defense in the title game.
If the Jags were to follow suit, a jump up eight wins would land them at 13-3 and, possibly, their first AFC South title. The Jags haven’t had a season with double digit wins since 2007 and they have only had 13 or more wins once, in 1999.
Of course, being 2016’s version of the Carolina Panthers doesn’t mean the Jaguars have to make the exact same leap. They don’t have to have the most exciting quarterback, an offense that clicks on all levels, or even win seven more games than they did the year before, they just need to find surprising success like they haven’t had in years. Really, anything over eight wins would be major progress for this Jaguars team.
But can they do it?
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The hope and possibility is certainly there. The Jags have exciting wide receivers in
and
, quarterback
has shown he can make all the throws, the new defensive additions will help turn around the achilles heel of the team, and head coach Gus Bradley’s persistence may finally pay off.
As Marc Sessler at NFL.com says
, “it’s fair to be skeptical, but Jacksonville has plenty of talent.”
As we build up to the draft and cautiously look to the 2016 season, it’s important to keep a skeptical viewpoint. There have been plenty of pre-draft “winners” that went on to fizzle and, based on the Jags’ recent history, it wouldn’t be shocking to see them do the same.
And yet the thought persists. There’s a chance, however slim, that the Jags could jut be good enough and have made the right decisions in recent years to finally make the leap and take the NFL by storm. It would be surprising and it would be exciting! They could do it.
But will they?