After looking at three reasons to be optimistic about the 2025 Jaguars, here are three reasons for concern.
We recently took a look at three reasons that the Jacksonville Jaguars can make the playoffs this season. But what about the other side of that coin? What if things go poorly?
In the midst of what was an offseason full of turnover for the Jaguars, what are three reasons for concern heading into the regular season?
There’s been a lot of change
Change can certainly be a good thing, and following a four-win season for the Jaguars, it was needed. But change, especially a lot of it, doesn’t mean immediate success.
This offseason, the Jaguars brought in a new GM, a new head coach, a new defensive coordinator, an almost entirely new coaching staff, and over half of the 53-man roster is made up of players who weren’t on the team in 2024.
And when it comes to that littany of changes made to the front office and coaching staff, many of those key decision-makers are in their respective roles for the first time at the NFL level.
For the coaches in their new roles, there is likely to be some sort of learning curve that has to be navigated–it is new after all. The same goes for the players on both sides of the ball, as they are learning new schemes and techniques.
The question that we don’t know is, how steep will the learning curve be for the Jaguars?
What about the offensive line?
Since arriving in Jacksonville, Liam Coen has said that the play of the Jaguars’ offensive line unit has to improve. To help accomplish that, James Gladstone reshaped this unit over the offseason, adding versatility and plenty of competition. With the release of their first depth chart of the regular season, the Jaguars revealed who will make up their starting five.
However, how much this group has improved still remains an unknown. Particularly with offensive line play, this is a difficult position group to judge during training camp.
While naturally all eyes will be on Trevor Lawrence and his skill position players, consistent success for the Jaguars’ offense begins with the play up front.
Without a strong run game to lean on, the offense will find itself behind the sticks and in predictable passing situations. In addition to that, the run and passing game concepts within Coen’s offense go hand-in-hand so without that run game element, the passing game can be affected.
Then, of course, we all know how important it is for a quarterback to have a clean pocket and time to throw. Without those elements, moving the ball steadily will be difficult.
How much better did the defensive tackle position get?
During the offseason, this was presumed to be one of the Jaguars’ biggest needs. However, Gladstone didn’t add to the defensive tackle position in free agency or the NFL draft.
In fact, it wasn’t until recently that any significant additions were made, with Austin Johnson being signed once training camp was underway, followed by Gladstone trading for Khalen Saunders.
Johnson has bounced around in his career, while Saunders bolsters the depth, but the Jaguars need more than just that up front.
There is also hope that Arik Armstead can regain his old form moving back inside and that Maason Smith can make a Year 2 jump. However, both missed significant time this summer, and whether those things happen is still unknown.
When it comes to getting improved play from the Jaguars’ defense as a whole, the play of the tackle position can go a long way in achieving that. Slowing the run puts the offense in obvious passing situations, while the best way to wreck any play is with a quick push up the middle.
Conversely, inconsistent play from the interior defensive line makes the jobs of every other defender more challenging.