PRESEASON POWER RANKINGS

NO. 16

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS

We love Jacksonville.  Been there twice, for the Gator Bowl.  It's one of the few places in the contiguous 48 to which we'd move the PFT headquarters. 

And it pains us that there's a great football facility in Jacksonville that has to have 10,000 or so seats covered up for every Jaguars home game so that there will be a fighting chance of a sellout, so that the contest can be aired on local television.

It didn't use to be that way, because the team was competitive.  But, lately, the franchise has been in a funk.  We're not quite sure why.  Jack Del Rio is a respected coach, who rose quickly through the ranks to nab one of the 32 most coveted jobs in all of sports.  The front office has been solid but not spectacular in using draft picks and in signing free agents.  Too many first-round picks have been used on pass-catchers like Reggie Williams, Matt Jones, and Marcedes Lewis, with not much of a return.  And the decision to select quarterback Byron Leftwich in round one of the 2003 draft has had mixed results to date, at best. 

This is the make-or-break season for Leftwich, and likely for Del Rio.  If the team tanks, both could be gone.  If the team makes the playoffs, a tough decision will need to be made as to whether Leftwich will be part of the future.

Clearly, Del Rio would prefer not to have Leftwich around.  But Del Rio lost that fight with the front office, and will use the fact that he wouldn't have given Byron another shot as the starter to help Del Rio get hired somewhere else if he is shown the door after the season.

Still, there is promise.  Though Leftwich has been dwelling a bit too much about the events that led to his benching in 2006, all indications are that he is doing what he needs to do to lead the offense.

And he's got help.  Fred Taylor still has some legs at tailback, and Maurice Jones-Drew is a budding star.  The real concern is at receiver, where a reject from the Browns has already made his way to the top of the chart.

The defense should perform at about the same level that it did in 2006, but there is concern at the back wall, where Donovin Darius and Deon Grant are both gone.  To the extent that Darius and/or Grant were responsible for getting the secondary lined up, someone else will have to assume those duties -- and perform them well -- in order to avoid situations in which the defensive backs get turned into overcooked Pop Tarts.

For now, this really is a middle-of-the-pack franchise.  But more than middle-of-the-pack will be needed in order to avoid some big changes come 2008.

Key departures:  S Donovin Darius, S Deon Grant, TE Kyle Brady.

Key arrivals:  OT Tony Pashos, S Sammy Knight, TE Jermaine Wiggins, WR Dennis Northcutt.

Draft pick most likely to make an impact:  S Reggie Nelson.

Coach's current job security:  One year.