GM Franchise -- Jacksonville Jaguars 2016 and beyond...

[KeepinItTeal]

This Journal will track the progress of a Jacksonville Jaguars Madden 2008 GM franchise starting from the 2016 off-season period forward. (note: "GM franchise" means all games will be played out CPU v. CPU, however, all player moves (sign/release, free agency, trades, drafts) will be made by the General Manager.

The Vitals: This franchise will be using the FF/FI XV mod, rogerjinx's 2015-16 roster, NZA's franchise guide and editor, MaddenAmp to import Danchat's 2016 draft class, along with a few TexMod tpf files. Redwolf's sliders with a few minor adjustments will be used.

Current Progress: The 2015 season has been completed (simmed). The Jaguars missed the playoffs but saw progress made by their young nucleolus of Blake Bortles, Allen Robinson, Allen Hurns, TJ Yeldon and Telvin Smith. NZA's franchise editor has been used to edit the draft order to mirror the actual draft order of the top 10 in the upcoming NFL draft and to ensure a realistic free agency pool.

Next Up... the sign and release period for the Jaguars' players whose contracts have expired and a State of the Franchise report from the Jaguars General Manager.

[Danchat]

This looks like it will be an interesting journal. I will be reading.

I like the fact that you'll be using my draft class. I wonder what prospects you'll target...

[KeepinItTeal]

This looks like it will be an interesting journal. I will be reading.

I like the fact that you'll be using my draft class. I wonder what prospects you'll target...

Thanks very much for your draft class work! I am looking forward to seeing that rookie class in action. As far as who will be targeted... stay tuned!

[KeepinItTeal]

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT -- STATE OF THE FRANCHISE 2016

Jacksonville Jaguars General Manager David Caldwell: Thank you all for coming today. As we are on the eve of the Combine and the start of the new league year and, as is tradition, we are here today to give you the State of the Franchise address. I will begin with a recap of the 2015 season from a player evaluation perspective, then will speak briefly on our plans and thoughts for the off-season. After which, Coach Bradly and I will be available for questions.

With respect to the 2015 season, in general we were pleased with the progress of a number of players however, we were not satisfied with the number of wins. On offense, we saw substantial progress in the passing game. Blake [Bortles] made immense strides during 2015. I think if anyone would have told you that he would pass for 35 TDs at the beginning of the season you would have thought they were crazy. But, obviously, he did hit that mark and his progression was one of the highlights of the season. He still has a number of areas to improve, in particular being more protective of the ball. The interception totals need to decrease in the coming seasons. However, we were very pleased with Blake. We are also excited by the transition Allen Robinson and Allen Hurns made from rookies in 2014 to one of the most productive WR combinations in the league in 2015. Having A-Rob make the Pro Bowl was something everyone in the organization was very proud of. We were also please by the progress made by TJ Yeldon, AJ Cann and the production down the stretch that we saw out of Julius Thomas. We did grade out the offensive line as a unit that needs to improve. And, that will be one of the focuses of our off-season. In general, however, we are very pleased with the progress made on the offensive side of the ball and are confident that unit will develop into one of this team’s true strengths going forward.

The defense did not perform to the level we expected. It was obviously a blow to have 2015 first round pick Dante Fowler go down with a season ending ACL injury during the first rookie mini-camp. He has done a very good job in rehab and we are looking forward to seeing him on the field in 2016. We graded out the defensive line as the best defensive unit in 2016. We were encouraged by the continued progress made by LB Telvin Smith. We believe he is on the cusp of becoming a Pro Bowl linebacker. Veteran Paul Posluszny put in another solid season at MLB, although he was slowed and did miss time due to injury. Unfortunately, the secondary graded out behind all other units and that will be a focus of the off-season.

With respect to the off-season, I can announce today that the team has resigned the following players whose contracts were set to expire: QB Chad Henne, LE Andre Branch, OLB Joplo Bartu and P Brian Anger. The team will not be resigning: HB Toby Gerhart, HB Bernard Pierce, TE Clay Harbor, LT Sam Young, C Carson Tinker, DE Ryan Davis, OLB Jordan Tripp, CB Peyton Thompson and FS Craig Loston. I mentioned before a few areas that will be focused on during the off-season, however, I will not go into details with respect to specific free agent targets. I can tell you that we will be active in free agency this year. We have cap room and intend to use it. We believe we have a foundation and a plan in place and that will be a selling point we make to prospective free agents. Obviously we will be heading to Indy soon to scout the invitees at the Combine. We are very much looking forward to that process and the upcoming draft.

That in a nutshell is the State of the Franchise with respect to player evaluations and development and our plans in the near future. We will now open it up for a few questions.

David Lamm (1010XL): Dave what will be your focus as far as having the #5 overall pick in the upcoming draft?

GM David Caldwell: Well, David, I’m not going to talk about specific prospects but I will say that we are excited about the depth in this draft at certain positions on defense where we have a need. I think there is a high likelihood that we will find an impact player at the #5 slot. With Dante Fowler returning, we are very much looking forward to the possibility of effectively having two new first rounders on the field in 2016.

Vito Stellino (Florida Times Union): Coach, what can be done about the number of interceptions thrown by Blake Bortles during his first two seasons, what can you do to change that?

Coach Gus Bradley Vito, there are a number of things we can do to help Blake progress and be more careful with the ball. I think just the fact that he now has nearly two full seasons under his belt will help. I think we all saw that the game slowed down for Blake and he did not make as many throws into traffic towards the end of 2015. He still needs to work on foot work and mechanics. But, to a certain extent, it may always be an issue. Blake has that gun slinger mentality, he likes to look for the deep ball and sometimes that gets him into trouble. But a QB with the ability to push the ball down the field is very valuable in this league, so that’s a risk we are comfortable with. But, I think we will continue to see him bring down his interception totals.

Dan Hicken (1010XL): David, you’ve released two HBs from the roster and we know that Denard Robinson has had issues holding on to the ball, can we assume that one or two new running backs will be added to the roster via either the draft or free agency?

GM David Caldwell: Yes, that’s a safe assumption. We believe there will be some quality running backs available in both free agency and the draft. We will be actively looking to upgrade the depth at that position. Having said that, we are very happy with the rookie season TJ Yeldon put together, he is going to be our feature back moving forward, but we need to add depth.

That’s all for today everyone. Thank you for your time.

[KeepinItTeal]

JACKSONVILLE (AP) -- As the 2016 league off-season rolls along, the Jacksonville Jaguars today announced the following free agent signings:

• C Alex Mack (91) Age 31 (6’4” 311lbs -- formerly with the Browns)
• LT Sean Hickey (76) Age 22 (6’6” 306lbs -- formerly with the Saints)
• HB Joseph Randle (84) Age 25 (6’0” 210lbs -- formerly with the Cowboys)
• LE Christo Bilukidi (84) Age 27 (6’5” 320lbs -- formerly with the Redskins)
• CB Josh Robinson (79) Age 25 (5’10” 199lbs -- formerly with the Vikings)

Jaguars GM David Caldwell said, "We are very pleased with what we were able to accomplish during the free agent signing period. Bringing in veteran Center Alex Mack is something we tried to do two years ago, so we are happy to have finalized that signing. Alex will bring a veteran presence to our offensive line, a presence that has been missing since Brad Meester retired. Left Tackle Sean Hickey is very young and we think he has significant up-side and potential, he will provide depth at the OT position. We understand that Joseph Randle had issues in Dallas, but we were convinced in our interview with him that he has put those problems behind him and is ready to get a fresh start and focus on football. Joseph will back-up TJ Yeldon. On defense Left Defensive End Christo Bilukidi will provide us with more depth along the defensive line and we think he will also be able to line-up on the interior of the line. With Cornernback Josh Robinson, we again were happy to get a young player that we believe will peak in the next few seasons and provide additional depth to our secondary."

Next up... the 2016 NFL Draft

[RevanFan]

How are you going to handle the preseason? Are you going to have a full roster of 90 players, or just stick to 55?

I'm loving the setup and narrative by the way. Great job thus far!

[KeepinItTeal]

How are you going to handle the preseason? Are you going to have a full roster of 90 players, or just stick to 55?

I'm loving the setup and narrative by the way. Great job thus far!

Hey RevanFan, thanks for the kind note.

I have read through your tutorial on getting 90 players into your franchise and having a more realistic training camp and preseason. That is something I would like to include in this franchise. However, at this point I've just been trying to get up the learning curve on all of the other modifications that can now be made (I only discovered this site about a month ago). Frankly, I've probably spent too much time on TexMod graphics updates of Everbank Field... that can be really addictive! So, I'm hoping by the next off-season of this franchise that I'll be able to do a deeper dive and incorporate your 90 player mod into this franchise.

Thanks for all you do for this community! It is much appreciated!

[RevanFan]

How are you going to handle the preseason? Are you going to have a full roster of 90 players, or just stick to 55?

I'm loving the setup and narrative by the way. Great job thus far!

Hey RevanFan, thanks for the kind note.

I have read through your tutorial on getting 90 players into your franchise and having a more realistic training camp and preseason. That is something I would like to include in this franchise. However, at this point I've just been trying to get up the learning curve on all of the other modifications that can now be made (I only discovered this site about a month ago). Frankly, I've probably spent too much time on TexMod graphics updates of Everbank Field... that can be really addictive! So, I'm hoping by the next off-season of this franchise that I'll be able to do a deeper dive and incorporate your 90 player mod into this franchise.

Thanks for all you do for this community! It is much appreciated!

Well, whichever way you end up going, I'm looking forward to reading it. I've been doing my franchise for 40 seasons. It's quite enjoyable when you have a franchise that lasts.

[KeepinItTeal]

Well, whichever way you end up going, I'm looking forward to reading it. I've been doing my franchise for 40 seasons. It's quite enjoyable when you have a franchise that lasts.

Thanks man, if I get to half of that I'll be happy!

[KeepinItTeal]

From the Florida Times Union:

Jaguars Focus on Defense at the 2016 NFL Draft
CHICAGO -- Jaguars General Manager David Caldwell mentioned prior to this year's draft that the team would likely concentrate its picks on the defensive side of the ball. Caldwell held true to his word with defensive players selected in the first five rounds. With the fifth overall pick in round one the Jaguars selected DE DeForest Buckner from the University of Oregon. Buckner has freakish size for a DE (6’7” 281lbs) and was the Pac 12's defensive player of the year in 2015. "DeForest has an incredibly high ceiling and the type of size and motor that will make life difficult for opposing offensive tackles," said Caldwell. In the second and third rounds the Jaguars looked to shore up the defensive secondary by selecting FS Keanu Neal from the University of Florida and CB Artie Burns from the University of Miami. The fourth and fifth rounds saw the Jaguars bolster the linebacking corps by selecting MLB Cassanova McKinzy from Auburn and OLB Victor Ochi out of Stony Brook. Rounds six and seven saw Caldwell focus on the offense with the selection of RG Vi Teofilo from Arizona State and HB Aaron Green from TCU. "Overall we are very pleased with this draft class," said Caldwell, "we think DeForest and Keanu will likely be the opening day starters at their positions and the others will provide depth, compete and push the starters. Gus and I both believe that open competitions at all positions is what strengthens a team. We are looking forward to the opening of camp and the pre-season."

The top ten picks of the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft were as follows:
• 1) Titans -- OT Laremy Tunsil (Ole Miss)
• 2) Browns -- QB Carson Wentz (North Dakota State)
• 3) Chargers -- FS Jalen Ramsey (Florida State)
• 4) Cowboys -- DE Joey Bosa (Ohio State)
• 5) Jaguars -- RE DeForest Buckner (Oregon)
• 6) Ravens -- OT Ronnie Stanley (Notre Dame)
• 7) 49ers -- QB Jared Goff (Cal)
• 8) Dolphins -- CB Vernon Hargreaves (Florida)
• 9) Bucs -- DE Noah Spence (Eastern Kentucky)
• 10) Giants -- OLB Myles Jack (UCLA)

Next up... Training camp and the 2016 pre-season.