The Jacksonville Jaguars have a loaded roster outside of quarterback

With 5 full offseasons under general manager David Caldwell, the Jacksonville Jaguars roster looks dramatically different and improved.

It’s an observation that brings hope to some Jacksonville Jaguars fans but enrages others – the Jaguars have a talented roster.

Those that are hopeful see a team that has the talent to compete and is close to becoming relevant, while those harboring frustration are tired of seeing the team fail year after year despite the acquisition of better players every offseason.

Both sides are understandable, but it’s starting become objectively difficult to not be impressed by the collection of players on the Jacksonville roster.

In a recent piece, Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com projected the starters for each team and subsequently provided some thoughts. He had some encouraging comments about the Jaguars.

Rosenthal starts off his analysis by noting that, Bortles aside, the Jaguars have some solid names at every position.

"Just skip the first name in the lineup and then look at that loaded group. The defense is especially deep, with promising young D-linemen like Yannick Ngakoue and Sheldon Day not even listed above."

He continues on the defense, making the case they could become great if guys like Myles Jack step up and play to their potential:

"The Jaguars’ defense could go from good to great if second-year pro Myles Jack fulfills his promise as a starting middle linebacker following a quiet rookie season. Veteran Paul Posluszny figures to lose snaps while moving to strong-side linebacker."

But, as Rosenthal promised to, he goes back and analyzes what the team is doing to handle Blake Bortles.

"OK, so about that initial name … The Jaguars spent the offseason doubling down on Blake Bortles by not giving him competition yet also trying to limit his exposure. The offense will be built around Leonard Fournette. New grand poobah Tom Coughlin wants to run the ball so much that he drafted Fournette No. 4 overall and retained Chris Ivory as a $4.5 million insurance policy.When the Jaguars do let Bortles pass, he has a talented trio of wideouts that he knows well. Marqise Lee‘s ascension last season makes this one of the more intriguing young receiver groups in football."

I was one of the many who thought it was a virtual lock the front office would bring in some kind of competition for Bortles, but they apparently feel comfortable moving forward with the polarizing quarterback. The obvious analysis here is probably the correct one – Bortles will have less pressure on him if he has a consistent running game, a problem that has plagued the Jaguars since drafting the UCF product.

Overall, I do think the Jaguars have a good collection of players on both sides of the ball. The offensive line is certainly a question mark, but the group they threw out last year did a decent job of pass blocking.

If Bortles can right the ship in 2017, the ceiling on the Jaguars this year could be quite high.