Top Five 2013 Fantasy Football Players: Jacksonville Jaguars

Top Five 2013 Fantasy Football Players: Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jacksonville Jaguars are a team yet again in transition with a new coach and a new offensive system. With key players like Maurice Jones-Drew coming back from injury and the painful four-game suspension of emerging talent Justin Blackmon, there were already a lot of concerns loaded into the 2013 season.

Throw in a quarterback competition and the fantasy value of just about every player on the team is seen to be very low. As we all know perception can be a fickle beast that rarely manages to bear its own weight in the cold light of reality.

New Head Coach Gus Bradley was previously the Defensive Coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks. He brings with him a defensive pedigree and focus which will in the long run help the defense keep control of the game and create more opportunities for the offense. New Offensive Coordinator Jedd Fisch has come over from the Miami Hurricanes where he was offensive coordinator after previously being the Quarterbacks Coach for the Seahawks. Fisch has installed a system on offense that has emphasis on tempo and playing fast coming out of the huddle and allowing quarterbacks the freedom to make reads and decisions at the line. The system is designed to cater to the strengths of each individual player.

On the surface this might sound like a lot, but let’s not forget the Jaguars are a team of talented young players with thirsty minds. Giving them the freedom to play to their potential might just be the key to getting past some of the hurdles they’ll face early in the season.

5. Blaine Gabbert or Chad Henne

I think the quarterback battle going on between Chad Henne and Blaine Gabbert is actually a good thing. When it comes to learning a new system, steel sharpens steel and Henne challenging Gabbert makes both of them better as they push each other to learn the new system and win the starting job. Whoever wins the job will be throwing to Cecil Shorts and Justin Blackmon. Both of them could go under the radar in your draft and still be available to you in the late rounds to play the role of a serviceable fantasy backup quarterback. You could take the winner as late as the 12th round.

4. Marcedes Lewis

Mercedes Lewis is big bodied tight end that responded poorly to Gabbert but he looked like a real red zone threat once Henne took over under center. If Gabbert wins the starting job Lewis probably isn’t worth owning except in the deepest of leagues. If Henne wins the starting job, I think Lewis has the ability to show up in the red zone like he did in 2010 when he scored 10 touchdowns. If Henne is under center I would grab Lewis in the 9th or 10th round.

3. Cecil Shorts

Both Cecil Shorts and Justin Blackmon have demonstrated great hands in their young careers, giving them added value in scoring formats that grant a point per reception. Shorts is often undervalued because he lacks prototypical height. His leaping ability and stretch allow him to play taller than he really is, while soft hands make him a reliable target. You should be able to grab him in the 7th round as a No. 3 receiver.

2. Justin Blackmon

Justin Blackmon takes a hard knock to his value because he will start the season with a four game suspension. If he wasn’t set to eat that suspension you could have grabbed him to fill in as a low end No. 2 wide receiver. As it stands most people will grab him very late to be the No. 3 or 4 on their squad.

Unless the injury bug bites your starting lineup, the only teams that will see a bye before Blackmon is done serving his suspension are the Green Bay Packers and the Carolina Panthers. Should you have a starter from one of those two teams you’ll probably want to look another direction. Otherwise Blackmon is someone you can buy as late as the 10th round yet still see the same kind of production you might spend for a No. 3 receiver in the 6th round.

1. Maurice Jones-Drew

Maurice Jones-Drew has been the hottest Fantasy Commodity in north Florida for many years now. Last year his holdout and Lisfranc injury tanked his value and has raised many questions marks about how productive he can be this year. In a strange way I think getting last year to rest up his body while only his foot suffered is a blessing in disguise for Jones-Drew who had really been piling up a lot of wear and tear on his body from multiple seasons with high reps in the run, pass and return game.

Reports so far say that he is healthy and working his way back into game shape in time to be a fantasy force by week one. This is a guy who just two short years ago was coveted by many fantasy owners as a top 5 back who also padded his points in the passing game. In some drafts he’ll tumble into the ranks of low end No. 2 backs, but there is still every reason to believe he can be one of the big comeback stories in the league this year.

While the Jaguars have a lot of questions clouding their 2013 season, there are still a lot of opportunities for you to capitalize on talented players who will outperform their perceived value.

Eric Beuning is a Fantasy Football writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @EricBeuning or add him to your network on Google