| Christopher Reina. 26th January, 2009 - 6:06 pm
 Record: 5-11
Trench Counter: -4.6 (25th)
Point differential per game: -4.1 (24th)
Payroll: $122M (9th)
Cost Per Win: $24.4M (25th)
Passing offense: 208.3 (15th)
Rushing offense: 110.9 (18th)
Passing defense: 224.1 (24th)
Rushing defense: 106.8 (13th)
Turnover differential: -0.4 (25th)
Strength of schedule: 3rd
If their season were a song: Let Down - Radiohead
Game-by-Game (Score, Trench Counter)
Week 1: at TEN, 10-17 Loss, -14.6
Week 2: BUF, 16-20 Loss, -7.0
Week 3: at IND, 23-21 Win, 3.2
Week 4: HOU, 30-27 Win, 1.6
Week 5: PIT, 21-26 Loss, -9.5
Week 6: at DEN, 24-17 Win, 9.5
Week 7: BYE
Week 8: CLE, 17-23 Loss, -5.4
Week 9: at CIN, 19-21 Loss, -6.4
Week 10: at DET, 38-14 Win, 11.1
Week 11: TEN, 14-24 Loss, -8.2
Week 12: MIN, 12-30 Loss, -12.0
Week 13: at HOU, 17-30 Loss, -7.5
Week 14: at CHI, 10-23 Loss, -4.6
Week 15: at GB, 20-16 Win, 1.5
Week 16: IND, 24-31 Loss, -1.9
Week 17: at BAL, 7-27 Loss, -23.1
Jaguars Season Review
The Jaguars were a trendy pick in the AFC heading into 2008 following their impressive playoff run a season ago, including an upset at Pittsburgh, a competitive game at New England and the overall emergence of David Garrard. Jeff Risdon was far more pessimistic in his preview and ended up being one of the more accurate prognosticators, though he too was more ambitious than the results.
The talent that came in wasn't as good as what came in and the continued devolution of the defense and the breakdown of the offensive line made 2008 a definite no-go.
Reina Value and FIC Rank
Quarterback
- David Garrard (9th, 850, +0%)
Garrard managed to play in all 16 games in 2008, but his passer rating fell from 102.2 to 81.7, which was of course far closer to the numbers Jacksonville has been accustomed to seeing from him. As expected, the 0.9% interception rate was unsustainable and he was sacked 42 times, thanks to a porous line and the disappointing play of Khalif Barnes at left tackle. While that line made Garrard the most hit quarterback in the NFL, his receivers also had more drops than any other QB in the NFL. I don't think Garrard is necessarily a consistent 102.2 kind of QB, but I have faith that he is closer to that than his 2008 season in which he was dealt a horrible hand.
Running Backs
- Maurice Jones-Drew (5th, 674 [302 rushing, 372 receiving], +780%)
Jones-Drew's yards per carry dropped slightly to 4.2 (824 total), down from his 5.7 as a rookie, but that was to be expected and the Jaguars could live with his output being at that level. He scored 12 rushing touchdowns and two from out of the backfield. He caught 62 passes which was easily second on the team, as were his 565 yards receiving.
- Fred Taylor (57th, 226 [164 rushing, 62 receiving], -76%)
Just one season after Taylor improbably made his first Pro Bowl, Taylor went from a 5.4 yards per carry rush to 3.9. He looked like he did in 2005 when most thought his career was winding down before his 2006/2007 surge. Jacksonville will need to get creative in order to give him one more season with the club.
Wide Receivers
- Matt Jones (35th, 498, +83%)
Jones very well could have been done in Jacksonville following his arrest last year, but he was given another chance and became their best possession receiver, catching 65 balls in 12 games for 761 yards.
- Dennis Northcutt (59th, 347, -12%)
Northcutt caught 44 balls for 545 yards and had over 100 yards receiving in two of their final three games. He has consistently been better since coming over from Cleveland, but can't shake the drops.
- Reggie Williams (74th, 256, -24%)
Williams capped off a 37 catch, 364 yard season by taking his nameplate off his locker after the Jaguars' final game of the season as he expects to be moving on in 2009. He caught nearly as many balls in (37) in 2008 as he did in 2007 (37), but he went from 629 yards and 10 touchdowns to 364 yards and three TDs.
Tight Ends
- Marcedes Lewis (17th, 317, +67%)
Lewis had 41 catches and 489 yards, both career highs for the third-year tight end out of UCLA. He had a better yards per catch average than Tony Gonzalez, Chris Cooley, Jason Witten, Dallas Clark and Antonio Gates.
Defensive Summary
With square pegs in round holes, the Gregg Williams experiment did not go well in Jacksonville, and Mel Tucker has been hired as the new defensive coordinator. The play of the offense in 2007 provided some deodorant for the defense that had begun to fall off in 2007.
They dropped from 7th in passer rating against to 28th and had just 17 takeovers, which put them 31st in the NFL.
Justin Durant had a really good season, and Derrick Harvey was much better than his statistics show and could really bust out with a 10 sack season in 2009.
Biggest draft needs
The Jaguars clearly need a huge upgrade at left tackle and would be extremely lucky to get Eugene Monroe or Jason Smith.
A defensive tackle is also needed and BJ Jaji's stock is very high right now.
Linebacker is another area of need and it is unlikely that Aaron Curry will fall to eighth, but Rey Maualuga could be a viable option.
Previous Audits
32. Detroit Lions
31. St. Louis Rams
30. Oakland Raiders
29. Cleveland Browns
28. Seattle Seahawks
27. Cincinnati Bengals
26. Kansas City Chiefs
- Chris Reina is the executive editor of RealGM |
