By the end of 2007, the Jacksonville Jaguars seemed to be one of those up-and-coming, safe AFC playoff teams, not quite on par with Peyton Manning and the division rival Indianapolis Colts, but certainly a franchise to be reckoned with. Coach Jack Del Rio hadn’t had a losing season since debuting in 2003, and the Jaguars were so confident 2008 would be their year they spent big money on free agents, notably Jerry Porter, and talked as if they were Super Bowl contenders.

Then they went out and won a mere five contests. Del Rio didn’t get all the blame, obviously, as he’s still around, but another year like the last one and he likely won’t be. The Jaguars suddenly became a team in dissension on and off the field, and there were many offseason changes in an effort to get the franchise back on track. Front-office members are gone, the wide receiver corps and offensive line look a lot different, and the team’s all-time leading rusher is now plying his trade for another AFC playoff hopeful, setting up Maurice Jones-Drew to become a fantasy monster.

One could argue the Jaguars have nowhere to go but up after a very disappointing season, but then again, with so much pressure on so many key figures, from quarterback David Garrard to other skill players on offense to the coach, maybe that’s just not true.

Article via ESPN, written by Eric Karabell – http://sports.espn.go.com/fantasy/football/ffl/story?page=nfldk2k9jaguarscamppreview

One of the Jaguars biggest weaknesses from last season was the fact that they did not have a receiver who could put pressure on defenses by stretching the field vertically, but with the addition of Torry Holt, the Jaguars now have that deep threat. Because of Holt’s explosiveness the running game will be able to produce a little more because defenses have to respect and account for Holt’s ability to get up the field in a heartbeat. With that said, is Holt’s presence enough to get the Jaguars over the hump and push them closer towards the playoffs? It all depends on how well David Garrad can perform. Last season he threw 15 TD’s and 13 interceptions and no team is going to get far with their quarterback putting up numbers like that.

The David Garrad of the 2007-08 season is the Garrad the Jaguars will need to show up in 2009-10. That year he threw 18 TD’s and a league low 3 interceptions among starting quarterbacks. If they can control the ball on offense, they’ll fair just fine. However, the loss of Fred Taylor may be something the Jaguars will struggle to adapt to early on in the season. That’s not taking away from Maurice Jones-Drew, because we all know he’s the better running back of the two, but Talyor was able to give Jones-Drew a spell here and there and even gave the Jaguars offense options because of Jones-Drew’s ability to make an impact in the passing game.