Jacksonville Jaguars offensive ‘triplets’ rank 20th in the NFL

Once one of the most promising in the league, the Jacksonville Jaguars offensive triplets now rank fairly low thanks to Blake Bortles.

Ardent football fans are well-aware of the football terminology used to lump together the three best offensive skill players – “triplets.”

Made famous by the original triplets back when the Dallas Cowboys were dominating with Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, and Emmitt Smith, every team is in a constant search for those three guys to carry their offense.

After the 2015 season, it looked like the Jaguars had the foundation for solid set of triplets in quarterback Blake Bortles and wide receivers Allen Robinson and Allen Hurns.

Then 2016 happened.

Blake Bortles has no become the worst quarterback in the history of the league (hyperbole but the way analysts speak make it seem that way), Allen Hurns needs to stay on the field, and Allen Robinson has to shake off a down season.

In his most recent ranking of the triplets, Dave Dameshek over at NFL Network swapped out Hurns for Fournette and dropped the Jaguars trio way down from 8 to 20.

"20) Jacksonville Jaguars: Blake Bortles (No. 25 QB), Leonard Fournette (6), Allen Robinson (22)Previous rank: No. 8If Bortles doesn’t look like a different guy by the end of training camp, the Jags owe it to the rest of the roster and the fan base to seriously consider another option. If only there were a viable starting QB out there, maybe someone who’s gotten within one throw of winning a Super Bowl … To be fair, few quarterbacks would’ve thrived behind the 2016 Jags’ line, and with Branden Albert now retired, things may not get much better. But Fournette will still be able to return the team to its rich history of having star RBs."

The only thing I really take issue here is the individual ranking of Allen Robinson. Granted, Dameshek is ranking all third weapons, so tight ends are included, but it’s a bit of stretch to say there are 21 better pass catchers out there. I don’t know how many people out there would take guys like Doug Baldwin, Alshon Jeffery, Golden Tate, Stefon Diggs, Mike Thomas, or Delanie Walker over Robinson.

While Robinson struggled a bit in 2016, I think his future production will be a lot closer to what he showed in 2015.

The wild card moving forward is of course Blake Bortles, who was ranked much higher than 25 last year. If he can play better, the team will win more games and this triplet ranking will soar up.