Pre-Game Recon: Five Questions With Big Cat Country

Ryan Day of our sister site, Big Cat Country, took some time out of his busy schedule this week to answer all of our biggest questions about this year’s Jaguars squad. We talked about everything from Bortles to Fournette to job security in the front office. Take a look at Ryan’s thoughts below:

1. What is the overall attitude about Blake Bortles among Jaguars fans? Is he gone next season no matter what unless he somehow turns in a Pro Bowl-worthy season out of nowhere?

I think the majority of Jaguars fans are no longer Blake Bortles fans. Even casual observers can see that the guy is broken. His mechanics are awful, his mentality is shot, and his decision-making never was consistently good. What we're more upset with, however, is the fact that this Jaguars’ coaching staff and front office didn't add a single quarterback into the mix. In fact, we cut one -- Brandon Allen is now on the Los Angeles Rams' 53-man roster. After all these years, why is Chad Henne still the best option behind Blake Bortles?

2. What's the latest on Leonard Fournette? Do you expect him to play? If so, how many carries will he get?

I do. I expect 20 carries and I expect close to 100 yards and a touchdown. I think he'll excel on Sunday and it'll be completely on his own merits -- this offensive line is awful. Cam Robinson and Brandon Linder are our only good players. There are three weak links and the entire right side of the line is garbage.

3. What is the strength of the Jaguars’ defense? How about the weakness?

The strength of this defense is in the secondary. I think you'll see quite a few sacks and pressures that the coverage will be responsible for. Jalen Ramsey and A.J. Bouye are studs, and Barry Church is better than I thought he'd be. We'll see what happens with Tashaun Gipson after a down season last year, but he'll have better players in front of him so he won't have to babysit as much.

4. How many wins do the Jaguars need this season for Doug Marrone and David Caldwell's jobs to be safe in 2018?

I'd say six would be the bare minimum, but ideally they should be 8-8 this year after stockpiling talent on the defensive side of the ball. Not doing anything at the quarterback position is incredibly damning.

5. What is your prediction for this game? What is your overall prediction for this Jaguars season?

I think the entire nation rallies around the City of Houston and that the Jaguars lose by two touchdowns. You have the better team overall and the better quarterbacks. That usually means a win, right? My prediction: Jaguars lose 27-13.

A big thank you to Ryan for stopping by. You can read his and others’ excellent work on all-thing Jaguars over at Big Cat Country. If you want to read my answers to his questions, you can check that out here.