Jacksonville Jaguars: Can the defense sync up?

The Jacksonville Jaguars have made all the right additions on defense, but can they bring it all together?

Winning football games is about far more than simply having the right personnel together. Even the best football players on paper may not deliver as expected.

Which is why it’s perfectly reasonable to consider whether the defense can “sync up” to be among the more pressing questions for the Jacksonville Jaguars this offseason. This isn’t to say that the Jags defense won’t be much better than before (how can they not?) but they need to ensure they don’t squander their talent with poor execution or utilization by the coaching staff.

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2016 will be an excellent chance to finally test if the trust in the Dave Caldwell-Gus Bradley led team has put its trust in the right place. Owner Shad Khan likely knows it and will be following the action closely in order to determine if the Jags are really getting enough bang for their buck.

What may be the most intriguing thing to watch, however, is how much of an impact new defensive coordinator Todd Wash will have on the team.

Wash’s promotion from run game coordinator/defensive line coach to defensive coordinator was not the big splash many fans wanted, but it could finally yield results in executing Bradley’s ideal defense. Former DC Bob Babich, also close to Bradley, was a clear disappointment for the team, yielding arguably the three worst defensive years in franchise history.

Wash will bring a different approach and some new wrinkles to the defensive scheme and, hopefully, will open up opportunities for the Jags’ newly talented roster to play to their strengths.

Make no mistake, it is difficult to be successful even with the right pieces in place. Better, more established teams have struggled to do it often. The Jaguars are going to have to prove they can take a step forward through their execution this year.

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