The Jacksonville Jaguars need many things from their offense, but wide receiver Allen Robinson returning to his 2015 form would be a major help.
Hopes were high for the Jacksonville Jaguars entering 2016 pretty much across the board. After going big on defense in free agency and the draft, that unit was expected to improve. More importantly, Blake Bortles and the offense were coming off an impressive 2015 season. And a big part of that offensive outburst was due to the play of Allen Robinson in his second year at wide receiver for the Jags.
In that 2015 season, Robinson hauled in 80 receptions for 1,400 yards and 14 touchdowns. After an up-and-down rookie campaign, it seemed he was destined for stardom. Thus, he would help Bortles along and vice versa as the offense grew heading into 2016. As we all know, that was far from what happened.
Robinson has a dreadfully disappointing 2016 season in Jacksonville. On just two fewer targets than the year before, he caught seven fewer balls. However, the damning part was in the yardage production. His 73 catches went for only 883 yards and he found the end zone a minuscule six times. So much for superstardom.
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Of course, it's somewhat of a chicken-or-the-egg situation with the Jaguars offense. Amidst Robinson's struggles, Bortles regressed tremendously as well. So was it the quarterback affecting the play of the wide receiver, or was the wide receiver's effort and poor play a factor in Bortles' regression? The truth likely lies somewhere in the middle — though probably leaning a little more towards the former.
Bortles' 2016 season was simply horrendous. Even as he'd earned a reputation as a garbage-time warrior, he was bad in all aspects last year. His accuracy was somehow at an all-time worst for him. What's more, he seemed uncomfortable at all times. At the same time, however, Robinson was clearly disengaged at times throughout the year. It takes a lot for general apathy to show up on a TV screen, but it happened at times with the wideout.
Now the Jaguars are moving into 2017 with more hope and optimism. They further bolstered their defense in free agency, and that unit has the potential to be elite. For them to be competitive, though, they have to pull through on the offensive side of the ball. They have No. 4 overall pick Leonard Fournette at running back to help that along. His presence should help to open up the passing game.
And while Bortles improving is the lynch-pin for the offense, Robinson stepping up to be a leader in the receiving corps is pivotal as well. He's by far the best of the bunch in Jacksonville. He has to set the tone and do whatever is in his power to help out a quarterback that's very clearly still developing — even if he never comes along fully.
In all likelihood, the Jaguars offense isn't going to be a particularly good unit. However, they need to be serviceable with weapons. Fournette can be part of that, but Robinson needs to step up to be the other piece of the puzzle. If that were to happen, Jacksonville has the talent to at least be dangerous in almost any matchup.
