Jacksonville Jaguars 2008 Season Preview

The Jacksonville Jaguars emerged as a Super Bowl contender from the AFC in the late 1990’s after coming into the NFL as an expansion team in 1995.  After failing to reach “the big game”, the Jags had trouble making the playoffs after the 1999 season and have come on strong in the recent years as a Super Bowl contender once again. This year, after acquiring some key players to boost the offense (Jerry Porter and Troy Williamson) and drafting two defensive ends to help the pass rush in Derrick Harvey (even though he is still holding out of camp) and Quentin Groves, the Jaguars look better than ever and ready to unseat the Colts as the AFC South Division winner. They have a solid secondary with Reggie Nelson, Rashean Mathis, Brian Williams, and Pro-Bowl acquisition corner Drayton Florence. Mike Peterson and Daryl Smith lead Clint Ingram and Justin Durant at their very powerful linebacker positions. Veteran Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew lead one of the best rushing tandems in the NFL while David Garrard is their unquestioned leader in his first season as the outright starting quarterback. There are some aspects that need to be questioned such as the recieving corps. as Reggie Williams has been out of camp because of a knee injury, Jerry Porter is missing the preseason with hamstring surgery, and Matt Jones is having off the field troubles. The positives about these issues is that they will let newcomer Troy Williamson, a former 1st-round draft pick, vet Dennis Northcutt, and Mike Walker, last year’s third round pick who missed the year with a knee injury, to step up into higher roles to improve the passing game. Another question is if the pass rush can be improved as hoped. With Harvey holding out, Groves needs to step up as a solid contributor while Paul Spicer, Reggie Hayward, and John Henderson need to provide that veteran leadership with solid play to help the Jags pressure the opposing teams which they have failed to do in the past. The Jacksonville Jaguars are a force to be reckoned with in the 2008 season and if they picked up where they left off, this team can be a very powerful Super Bowl contender.