Jaguars move up in recent Touchdown Wire rankings
By David Levin
Changes across the NFL, especially in the AFC, have the Jacksonville Jaguars moving higher in the most recent rankings by Touchdown Wire.
The entire AFC conference felt the effects of the news of Andrew Luck’s retirement, including the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Initially, the Colts were considered a potential top-5 team in the league, with Super Bowl aspirations riding on the arm of one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL. And just so everyone knows, someone’s fantasy football team took a major hit with the news.
His name shall not be mentioned here.
Luck’s news isn’t the only one that has changed the fortunes of the Jaguars and other NFL teams and because of it, the most recent power rankings by Doug Farrar of USA Today’s Touchdown Wire looks a bit different as well.
The Jaguars are ranked 12th in his poll and the top of the AFC South food chain.
More from Jacksonville Jaguars News
- Jaguars RB Travis Etienne expected to have bigger impact in 2023
- 5 bonafide stars from the Jacksonville Jaguars 2022 season
- Jacksonville Jaguars haven’t heard any Calvin Ridley news from the NFL
- WR Marvin Jones Jr. will give 110 percent with the Jacksonville Jaguars or wherever he plays in 2023
- Jacksonville Jaguars keeping TE Evan Engram in 2023 one way or another
"“Ideally, the addition of Nick Foles turns the Jaguars from a headless team with a great defense and running game into the kind of force one expects to see in the Super Bowl,” Farrar writes. “But after the 2017 season, when this team was a few plays away from beating the Patriots in the AFC Championship, all kinds of things went wrong that had nothing to do with Blake Bortles.”"
Farrar is right in that not everything was the fault of the No. 5, but he is not blameless. There was a regression in his play, regardless of the lack of health on the offensive line and the lack of a solid running game. The offensive game plan was impotent. The play calling, which led to the firing of offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, was unimaginative.
Everything that could go wrong in the middle of the season, including a seven-game losing streak, did go wrong. And that wasn’t the offense’s fault alone.
"“The defense fell off a cliff as players started to freelance, Leonard Fournette was a severe disappointment when he was on the field, and the drop from 10-6 to 5-11 was startling,” Farrar added. “Even if Foles plays at his level best, head coach Doug Marrone and his staff, especially defensive coordinator Todd Wash, have a lot to deal with before this franchise can be taken seriously again as a prime contender in the AFC.”"
The #Jaguars will start Week 1 with a collection of running backs behind Leonard Fournette who have combined for five carries in the NFL. It's a risky strategy, but I'd prefer inexperienced talent to mediocre veterans. Looks like they have a couple of interesting young guys.
— Phillip Heilman (@phillip_heilman) September 1, 2019
No words are truer than the ones Farrar just wrote. Cohesion on offense. Speed and dominance on defense. Unity in the locker room. They are must fall into place for the Jaguars to muster another winning season with an eye for the playoffs.
The Colts come in 17th on this list with Jacoby Brissett now the leader of the offense. Tennessee, a team that still may have issues at quarterback, is 18th overall. The Houston Texans are 31st on Farrar’s list.
Next. Hurricane forces Jaguars to change their schedule. dark