Drilling in: Jaguars unit by unit analysis

QUARTERBACKS: Starter -- Blake Bortles. Backups -- Cody Kessler, Tanner Lee. Bortles signed a three-year, $54 million contract extension in the offseason, an indication that team officials believe he's the quarterback that can lead the team to a Super Bowl. That belief was enhanced in last year's three playoff games when Bortles played well, passing for 594 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. He doesn't have to carry this team himself, the running game is too good for the need to have Bortles consistently put up 300-yard passing games. But he also must continue to be effective like he was in the red zone last year when he had 18 passing touchdowns and no interceptions. He also must stay healthy as neither backup Kessler or draft pick Lee appear ready to step in and lead the offense. Bortles had offseason wrist surgery and comes to training camp healthy after a solid summer session of perfecting his throws at a California camp. RUNNING BACKS: Starter -- Leonard Fournette. Backups -- T.J. Yeldon, Corey Grant, FB Tommy Bohanon, Tim Cook, Brandon Wilds. Fournette's rookie season resulted in 1,040 yards on 268 carries (3.9 average) and he could be in line for a 300-plus carry season. He's dropped 10-12 pounds from a year ago and at 223, will play at the weight he was at for LSU two years ago when he was one of the country's best college running backs. He needs to play 16 games this year after missing three games (two due to injury, one to team violation) a year ago. With the departure of Chris Ivory, Yeldon moves into sole possession of the backup spot and should greatly increase his numbers of 49 carries for 253 yards after he gained over 1,200 yards in his first two seasons. Grant showed in the playoffs that he needs to get the ball more after he caught three passes out of the backfield in the AFC Championship Game against New England and turned them into first-half gains of 20, 24 and 15 yards. Bohanon is likely to stick with the club as coaches like his blocking skills and occasionally taking passes out of the backfield. TIGHT ENDS: Starter -- Austin Seferian-Jenkins. Backups -- Niles Paul, James O'Shaughnessy, Ben Koyack, David Grinnage, Scott Orndoff. The acquisition of Seferian-Jenkins adds a whole new element to the passing game. It's been six years since the Jaguars last had a tight end catch at least 50 passes in a season. That's the number that Seferian-Jenkins caught last year in 13 games with the Jets, good for 357 yards and three scores. Bortles has not had a tight end be an integral part of the passing game in his first four seasons with the club. O'Shaughnessy and Koyack were with the team last year and appear locks to be back. Paul was also an offseason acquisition and will need a good camp to be included on the final roster. WIDE RECEIVERS: Starters -- Donte Moncrief, Marqise Lee, Keelan Cole. Backups -- Dede Westbrook, DJ Chark, Rashad Greene, Jaydon Mickens, Shane Wynn, Allen Lazard, Dorren Miller, Montay Crockett, DeAndre Smelter. Adding Moncrief to an otherwise average returning group appears to have strengthened this unit. In his four years with Indianapolis, Moncrief's best season was in 2015 when he had 64 catches for 733 yards. Otherwise he never had more than 32 catches or more than 450 yards in the other three seasons. Lee and Cole had a productive year for the Jaguars in 2017 with 56 and 42 receptions respectively and both over 700 receiving yards. Westbrook is the fastest of the receivers, but needs to stay healthy. He spent the first 10 weeks of the season on the injured reserve list. Chark could be the surprise addition. He's long and fast and was impressive during OTAs in the spring. Greene also had a strong showing in OTAs and could rebound back after missing all of last season on the injured reserve list. Any of the other receivers will need to have strong showings in camp and make the roster as a special teams player. OFFENSIVE LINEMEN: Starters -- LT Cam Robinson, LG Andrew Norwell, C Brandon Linder, RG A.J. Cann, RT Jermey Parnell. Backups -- T Josh Wells, T Will Richardson, G Josh Walker, T William Poehls, G/C Tyler Shatley, G/C Chris Reed, G Brandon Thomas, G/C KC McDermott, T Brandon Smith, T Sean Hickey. The left side of the line with Robinson, Norwell and Linder is set and will be the strength of this line. Adding Norwell really solidified the line that had its ups and downs a year ago. He's a former Pro Bowl guard that the Jaguars paid a hefty price for (five years, $66.5 million, $30 million guaranteed) but a player the Jaguars feel will elevate the play of the entire line. Robinson and Linder are solid at their positions, Cann will have to fight off several players, including the rookie Richardson, to retain his starting spot and Parnell is likely in the last year as a starter before giving way to Richardson. Wells, Shatley, Reed and Poehls all saw spot duty last year and will likely retain their reserve roles. Richardson is a fourth-round pick out of North Carolina State that could be the surprise of the draft class, possibly even taking a starting spot away from Cann. DEFENSIVE LINEMEN: Starters -- DE Calais Campbell, DT Malik Jackson, DT Abry Jones, DE Yannick Ngakoue. Backups -- DT Marcell Dareus, DE/DT Taven Bryan, DE Dante Fowler, DE Dawuane Smoot, DT Michael Bennett, DT Eli Ankou, DE Carroll Phillips, DE Lyndon Johnson, DE Darius Jackson, DE Kapron Lewis. One of the strongest and deepest units on the team. This group is largely responsible for the 55 sacks that the Jaguars recorded last season, second-highest total in the NFL behind Pittsburgh's 56. Campbell and Jackson have been Pro Bowl picks and Ngakoue may soon join them. Campbell uses his size and strength and Ngakoue his speed to get to the quarterback, combining for 26.5 sacks a year ago. It's the depth in the line that makes this such a good unit. Jones, Dareus and Bryan will share time with Jackson at the tackle spots while Fowler and Smoot will spell starters as pass-rushing ends with little drop-off. Those eight are locks to make the roster, leaving probably just two openings for Bennett, Ankou and Phillips to battle for roster spots. LINEBACKERS: Starters -- WLB Telvin Smith, MLB Myles Jack, SLB Blair Brown. Backups -- Leon Jacobs, Donald Payne, Lerentee McCray, Brooks Ellis, Deon King, Reggie Hunter, Manase Hungalu, Andrew Motuapuaka. Two key questions for this group: can Jack handle the calls and play required by a middle linebacker and can Brown evolve into a starter? Jack is probably the most athletic of the linebackers, but he couldn't handle the middle a year ago and had to be moved back to the outside. A year's experience probably was enough to reinsert him back to the middle. Smith is the most talented and could be in line for Pro Bowl honors in 2018. Brown has the potential to be a strong player but lacks experience. He will need to develop fast. Jacobs and Payne are the two strongest challengers to Brown for a starting spot. The rest of the group will need to make the roster via special teams play. DEFENSIVE BACKS: Starters -- LCB Jalen Ramsey, RCB A.J. Bouye, FS Tashaun Gipson, SS Barry Church. Backups -- CB DJ Hayden, Tyler Patmon, CB Jalen Myrick, CB Sammy Seamster, CB Quenton Meeks, CB Dee Delaney, CB Dexter McDougle, CB Tre Herndon, CB C.J. Reavis, SS Ronnie Harrison, FS Cody Davis, FS Jarrod Wilson, SS Don Carey, S Charlie Miller. This is another strong unit for the Jaguars despite the loss of Aaron Colvin in free agency. Ramsey and Bouye are among the league's best cornerbacks and will likely be included in that short list for the next 3-4 years. They both relish the idea of covering the opponent's top receiver. Gipson and Church were solid in their play last year. Both get a lot of balls in their direction as opposing quarterbacks look to stay away from Ramsey and Bouye. The question mark for 2018 is who will replace Colvin. Hayden will have first shot at it, but he'll have to fend off Patmon who was solid in OTAs last spring. Harrison is the strong safety of the future and could take playing time away from Church at times this year. The others will have to be strong special teams contributors in order to make the 53-man roster. SPECIAL TEAMS: K Josh Lambo, P Logan Cooke, LS Carson Tinker, LS Andrew East, KOR Corey Grant, PR Jaydon Mickens, PR Rashad Greene, PR Dede Westbrook. Lambo was the surprise in 2017, joining the team in the seventh week of the season and then hitting on 19-of-20 field-goal attempts after that. He had multiple field goals in six of his first seven games, while also handling all of the team's PATs and kickoffs. The Jaguars liked Cooke so much that two days after drafting him, they released Brad Nortman who had been a starting punter for Carolina or the Jaguars the six previous years. The team may bring in some competition for Cooke, but the job is his to lose. Tinker returns as the snapper after having missed the entire 2017 season with an injury. Grant excelled on kickoff returns, averaging just under 25 yards a return on 19 attempts. Mickens won the punt-return job last year, but he will need to fend off Greene who held the same job two years ago but then missed all of last year with an injury.