Three Jaguars to watch on Sunday against Washington

There are three games left in the 2018 NFL season. The Jacksonville Jaguars must use this time to make a statement regarding what happens in 2019.

When Cody Kessler looks over the offensive line at the Washington Redskins defense, he could be looking at a team in the same situation as his Jacksonville Jaguars.

Questions about the coaching staff, the roster and what the future holds are topics that are written about daily in local newspapers and talked about religiously on sports talk radio. So much was expected of the Jaguars this season, coming up just short of the Super Bowl. So much was hoped for once the Redskins brought in Alex Smith to replace Kirk Cousins.

Both teams will be sitting home for the New Year and will begin the process of making changes, potentially blowing things up and starting over again.

"“Washington is a great team. Obviously, they’ve had injuries, it happens all around the league. It happens all the time. Week in and week out, it’s a new opponent and you treat it the same,” Kessler said when he met with the media this week.More from Jacksonville Jaguars NewsJaguars RB Travis Etienne expected to have bigger impact in 20235 bonafide stars from the Jacksonville Jaguars 2022 seasonJacksonville Jaguars haven’t heard any Calvin Ridley news from the NFLWR Marvin Jones Jr. will give 110 percent with the Jacksonville Jaguars or wherever he plays in 2023Jacksonville Jaguars keeping TE Evan Engram in 2023 one way or another“We’re excited for the opportunity and to get the taste out of our mouth from last week and kind of improve from that. [I] had a nice weekend and kind of watched film and got a jump start on Washington, so it’s going to be a good game.”"

The Jaguars go from trying to stop Derrick Henry (to no avail) to facing Adrian Peterson, who has resurrected his career in a Redskins uniform. While injuries have destroyed the quarterback position in our Nation’s Capital, the running game continues to keep the Redskins offense moving forward, despite a 40-16 loss to the New York Giants last week.

If Jacksonville has any chance of winning this week in their final home game of the year, these three players must step forward.

Marcell Dareus – The Jaguars traded for Marcell Dareus last season with the idea he would help the team stop the run. This season, teams have gashed this defense for big yards.

Peterson is aiming at yet another 1,000-yard season and is 112 yards away from moving past Eric Dickerson for eighth on the all-time rushing list. Dareus and the interior line must hit Peterson at the line and stop him before he gets to second gear.

If the big back breaks free, it could another long afternoon.

Leonard Fournette – The image of Leonard Fournette getting four cracks at the end zone from the 1-yard line and failing to score made us all remember Toby Gerhart and the missing opportunities of the run game.

This week, we cannot have that or see Fournette complaining on the sideline with running backs coach Tyrone Wheatley.

Jacksonville should use him, T.J. Yeldon and Carlos Hyde throughout the game, controlling the clock and keeping the Redskins offense on the sidelines. Yeldon has been solid out of the backfield as a pass catcher. That also might be part of the game plan this week.

Ronnie Harrison – Ronnie Harrison has established himself as a safety of the future with this team. Having taken Barry Church’s spot, he now needs to learn on the job, play better defense and prove he is exactly what the Jaguars expected when they drafted in him the third round this past April.

Playing as a rookie in a veteran secondary should help the former Alabama star mature into one of the better safeties in the league. This is his apprenticeship.