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The Jacksonville Jaguars just finished their Week 2 preseason game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and on paper, this game looked one way with the Buccaneers leading for most of the game. But when viewing it through the lens of a preseason game, it was pretty one-sided in favor of the Jaguars.
Blake Bortles and the offense were in midseason form again and Allen Robinson and Allen Hurns complemented each other very well. Chris Ivory showed himself to be the hard-running element this running game has lacked for years and T.J. Yeldon is going to be a solid pass-catcher out of the backfield.
The only thing that really lacked tonight was the edge rushing yet again. Dante Fowler has yet to get on the stat sheet, now trailing the likes of Neal Sterling and Jason Myers in tackles so far this year. But the interior pressure was absurdly good. Sen'Derrick Marks was blowing up plays left and right and Malik Jackson is going to be very, very fun to watch.
If the first team offense and defense had been in the whole game, you're looking at a 20-point win by the Jaguars. But it didn't end that way tonight because preseason.
There were a lot of good players who stood out tonight, but here are the six that were a little brighter than the rest.
Blake Bortles
The conversation begins and ends with this guy. He's led drives of at least 55 yards in four of the five possessions this preseason and all but one have ended in points. And the below throw means he's officially Brett Favre's son.
Blake Bortles with a 24-yard touchdown to Allen Hurns. They call that the @PFF_Sam special.
— Big Cat Country (@BigCatCountry) August 21, 2016
JAGUARS - 14, BUCS - 7 https://t.co/X9xE0qTAqW
Luke Joeckel
Last week, Joeckel was not bad. Tonight, Joeckel was good. He was... good. Look at the touchdown above by Bortles and watch how he uses strength and physicality to stone his opponent and give Bortles the cleanest pocket I've ever seen. I want to see some reps with Joeckel at guard, which will likely come in the final two weeks of the preseason, but if Kelvin Beachum isn't ready, I think Joeckel has shown himself to be a more-than-capable option at left tackle going into the season.
Chris Ivory
The hard-running Ivory is exactly what Toby Gerhart was supposed to be the last few years. Now we have it.
Chris Ivory is what this running game has been missing for a few years. Runs very hard. https://t.co/oR8U8kXrDB
— Big Cat Country (@BigCatCountry) August 21, 2016
Jalen Ramsey
Ramsey was about as good in 16 snaps and his first real NFL action as you could hope. He had a tackle for a loss on his first play from scrimmage and then had two more tackles. Let me remind you -- Ramsey had 16 defensive snaps and made himself known in three of them. I'm ready for next week when he gets to (likely) play a full half of football.
Dante Fowler
He's been in on about two dozen snaps this preseason so, again, any performance analysis has to be taken with a grain of salt. But Fowler has yet to register so much as a tackle so far this preseason while Yannick Ngakoue has a sack and a couple of tackles and Chris Smith has a couple of tackles for a loss. For a guy who was hyped during OTAs and training camp, it's been an entirely different story when he's gone against non-Jaguars offensive linemen.
Sen'Derrick Marks
Limited snaps and a rotational 3-tech group is gonna help Marks to absolutely prosper. Look at this, fam. He did this several times in a row on one drive in the first quarter.
Limited snaps is gonna be soooooooo good for Sen'Derrick Marks this year. Blows up play. Jordan Tripp cleans up. https://t.co/0Ohlm0yA8P
— Big Cat Country (@BigCatCountry) August 21, 2016