Jacksonville Jaguars are the most improved team in the AFC South

There have been a lot of changes this offseason in the AFC South, but no team made more important moves than the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Jacksonville Jaguars needed to make some big changes this offseason to fix what was one of the worst defenses in the entire league. After three years, head coach Gus Bradley hadn’t made the defense notably better and a big reason why was a glaring lack of talent on that side of the ball.

General manager David Caldwell took notice, utilizing a league-leading amount of salary cap room to sign key free agents. He supplemented a good free agent haul with perhaps the most impressive draft class in the NFL.

With the addition of high-level starters like Malik Jackson, Tashaun Gipson, Jalen Ramsey, and Myles Jack, the defense should help make the Jaguars the best team in the division.

Jordan Plocher over at Pro Football Focus also thinks the Jaguars are the most improved team in the AFC South and the defense could cement itself as the best in the division.

"Clearly the Jaguars’ plan this offseason was to invest in their defense to try and make the same type of leap forward that their offense made last season. Their plan has worked on paper, as no unit in the NFL was upgraded more this offseason than the Jaguars’ defense. The addition of Malik Jackson in free agency and Sheldon Day (our highest-graded DT in the class) in the draft, gave the Jaguars two players who can rush from DT or DE. The Jaguars should also see increased edge-rush production this season with the return of Dante Fowler Jr. (last year’s No. 3 overall pick who missed all of his rookie year due to a knee injury), in addition to their draft haul of Yannick Ngakoue, Tyrone Holmes, and Jonathan Woodard.The biggest story of the Jaguars’ offseason and the true coup of the draft is that the Jaguars were able to get two of the top-5 players in this draft class in Jalen Ramsey (our highest-graded CB in the draft class) and Myles Jack (owner of the highest coverage grade among all FBS linebackers in 2014). Those two will instantly bring elite athleticism and coverage ability to the Jaguars defense, and potentially help turn it into the best defense in the AFC South."

Other teams in the division made moves as well, but not as drastic or potentially impactful as the Jaguars. Caldwell identified the weak spots on the roster and addressed them with startling aggressiveness. Even if all the moves don’t work out, you have to be impressed with Caldwell’s ability and willingness to take a shot on high-ceiling players who could make the Jaguars significantly better at previously deficient areas.

We’ll have to wait and see until the regular season to find out which of these moves pay off, but right now they all look good.