Jaguars Won’t Trade For Eli Manning
Many have blamed Blake Bortles for the Jaguars’ slow start, but the team doesn’t seem focused on a quarterback upgrade. They won’t be trading for QB between now and the Oct. 30 deadline, Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com hears (on Twitter), and that includes Giants QB Eli Manning. 
Manning, of course, has history with Jaguars EVP Tom Coughlin, and the Jags’ football czar has tons of admiration for the player who helped him capture two Super Bowl trophies. However, the Jaguars believe that the arrival of Carlos Hyde and the eventual return of Leonard Fournette will balance out the offense and bring the best out in Bortles. Bortles has been shaky, to say the least, but the Jags believe that they need an adequately mobile QB to anchor their offense, and Bortles offers that.
Manning has an impressive resume, but he hasn’t been setting the world on fire this year either. The Giants are 1-5 on the year, and Manning’s inability to air it out may be the team’s biggest issue on either side of the ball. Through six contests, Manning has completed nearly 69% of his throws, but he’s been brought down in the backfield 20 times, putting him on pace for a dubious new career high.
Jaguars To Release Jamaal Charles
Jamaal Charles‘ stay with a third NFL team did not last long. The Jaguars are releasing the two-time All-Pro running back, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
The Carlos Hyde acquisition will lead to Charles losing his job. He received just six carries with his latest team. The Jags signed linebacker Nick DeLuca to take Charles’ roster spot.
Jacksonville added Charles to help a backfield missing starter Leonard Fournette. But the team clearly didn’t feel its sans-Fournette running back situation was strong enough, deciding to unload a fifth-round pick for Hyde, who will be set to debut for his new team on Sunday in London.
The Chiefs’ all-time rushing leader and one of the best yards-per-carry runners in NFL history, Charles will return to free agency. He’d resided there since the Broncos let him walk in the offseason. The 31-year-old back gained seven yards on those six carries and appears to be near the end of a decorated NFL career.
DeLuca will join a Jags team that saw reserve linebacker Donald Payne suffer a knee injury in Sunday’s loss to the Texans.
Jags To Start Blake Bortles Against Eagles
Blake Bortles will get his job back in Week 8. Doug Marrone announced Monday the longtime Jaguars starter’s run of first-string work will continue, despite being benched on Sunday.
Cody Kessler relieved Bortles in a loss to the Texans, but Marrone believes the fifth-year quarterback provides the Jags with “the best opportunity to win.” However, Bortles will have a “short leash,” per ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter).
Kessler will get reps with the Jags’ starting offense this week in practice, Schefter adds, but the job remains Bortles’. Kessler completed 21 of 30 passes for 156 yards in the Jags’ 20-7 home loss, their third straight defeat. Bortles fumbled twice and was yanked after completing just six passes. His 46.1 Total QBR sits 23rd in the NFL and is down considerably from last season’s mark. Bortles has thrown for 1,735 yards, with nine touchdowns and eight interceptions, this season.
This is obviously interesting given Jacksonville’s offseason. The Jags avoided the most extensive quarterback market in years and re-signed Bortles to an extension. While it wasn’t a big-money deal, at $18MM per year, the team didn’t add much in the way of competition for its maligned starter, only trading a late-round pick for Kessler. With the Jags still holding the NFL’s No. 1-ranked defense, Bortles’ inconsistency continues to plague the team.
Jaguars Not Considering Trade For QB
- The Jaguars are not mulling a trade for a quarterback to challenge incumbent Blake Bortles, per Schefter. Despite another mediocre season from Bortles, the Jags “believe that the quarterback position is the least of their issues.”
Latest On Jaguars’ Leonard Fournette
Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette has been officially ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Texans, which marks the third missed game for Fournette this year out of a possible seven. Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports that Fournette will also miss the team’s game in London against the Eagles next week. Jacksonville will then have its Week 9 bye on November 4, and the team hopes to have Fournette back the following week. The Jags currently have no plans to put Fournette on IR.
[RELATED: Jaguars Acquire RB Carlos Hyde From Browns]
Fournette’s nagging hamstring injury has kept him off of the field for much of the year and limited his production when on the turf. Fournette carried the ball just nine times in the season opener against the Giants, though he made the most of those totes with 41 yards (4.56 yards per carry) before exiting the game early. In Week 4 against the Jets, he garnered 11 carries, though he averaged just 2.73 yards per try.
It’s a frustrating situation for both Fournette and the Jaguars. Ever since his days at LSU, Fournette has struggled with leg injuries, both to his ankle and hamstring.
Moments after Fournette was ruled out for this week, the Jaguars shipped a fifth-round pick to the Browns in exchange for Carlos Hyde. Hyde is inactive for the team’s Week 7 contest this afternoon, but he will ultimately pair with T.J. Yeldon (and, hopefully, Fournette) to give Jacksonville a nice trio of backs.
Yeldon doesn’t offer the same kind of bruising power as Fournette, but he has been productive nonetheless. Heading into this week, Yeldon boasts an average of 4.5 yards per rushing attempt, plus 25 catches for 223 yards. All told, the 25-year-old has four touchdowns, which already marks a new single-season career best. The Jaguars would prefer to have a healthy Fournette, but Yeldon and Hyde could form a solid 1-2 punch in the interim.
After starting the year 2-0, the Jags have dropped three of their last four. After losing consecutive games to the Chiefs and Cowboys by a combined 49 points, they’re eager for a W against Houston.
Rory Parks contributed to this post.
Poll: Who Will Win AFC South?
Although the AFC South has seen repeat champions this decade, the division’s post-Peyton Manning years have not produced a similar perpetual frontrunner. This season’s unfolding on a familiar course.
Going into Week 7, three AFC South teams — the Jaguars, Titans and Texans — are 3-3. The Colts probably have the division’s best quarterback, but they’re 1-5 and on a rebuilding track. This could be shaping up to be a complicated race as we enter the midseason stretch.
Jacksonville came into the season as the division’s favorite, but the past two games — when the Chiefs and Cowboys combined to outscore the Jaguars 70-21 — leave this division more in doubt than it looked entering October. With Blake Bortles‘ inconsistency continuing into his fifth season, the Jags continue to depend on their defense. But that unit’s not quite on the unassailable perch on which it hovered last season — when a group housing mostly the same personnel led the league in DVOA.
That metric still has this Jaguar defense sitting fifth, but will a merely good defense be enough to lift a Bortles-led offense that doesn’t have much in the way of weaponry? (Though, a Leonard Fournette–Carlos Hyde backfield may look formidable if Fournette can shake off his hamstring injury.) The Jags already lost at home to the Titans and now has the Texans coming to town in what will be a pivotal spot for both teams.
When I examined this division’s similar outlook around the midway point last season, Deshaun Watson was days away from the ACL tear that sank the Texans. He’s off his stratospheric pace from last year, which was to be expected, but has absorbed by far the most sacks (25) and hits (65) any quarterback’s sustained this season. Houston did not outfit its franchise centerpiece with a strong offensive line, and Watson doesn’t have much in the way of a running game, either.
The Texans will need to improve in these areas to be a legitimate AFC contender, but they have won three straight and again have the services of a healthy J.J. Watt, who is putting together a defensive player of the year case and leading a top-10 DVOA unit.
Tennessee’s probably trudging into Week 7 on the lowest note of this division’s contenders, having completed a historically futile effort in Baltimore. Marcus Mariota took 11 sacks, tied for the second-most in NFL history, despite his first-string line being fully available. The fourth-year quarterback has not built on the strong performance he delivered to help the Titans to an overtime win over the Eagles. He’s thrown two touchdown passes this season, is averaging only 158.3 passing yards per game and is 23rd in Total QBR.
The Titans have struggled to replace Delanie Walker‘s reliable presence, and their Dion Lewis–Derrick Henry tandem has sputtered (neither averages more than 3.3 yards per carry) thus far, putting Mariota in a tough spot Sunday in London and running the risk of the Titans falling below .500 after a 3-1 start.
Andrew Luck‘s return should be viewed as the top positive takeaway for the Colts, whose roster didn’t indicate they were especially interested in 2018 contention. Can they rebound and mount something of a challenge in a division without a current winning record, or are they stampeding toward another high draft choice?
It’s obviously still early in the season, but is one of these teams about to separate from the competition and become the kind of contender that can challenge the Patriots or Chiefs? The Jags already beat the Pats, but the latter has obviously proven far more as a perpetual AFC contender and will be treated as such despite the Week 2 result.
So, who has the best chance of putting together a run in the South? Vote in PFR’s latest poll and weigh in with your views in the comments section.
Who will win the AFC South?
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Houston Texans 33% (256)
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Jacksonville Jaguars 33% (253)
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Tennessee Titans 19% (147)
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Indianapolis Colts 14% (109)
Total votes: 765
Hyde Trade Not About Fournette Setback?
- The Jaguars‘ trade for Carlos Hyde seems to suggest they’re concerned about Leonard Fournette going forward, but Hays Carlyon of 1010XL (on Twitter) doesn’t believe the second-year running back endured a setback and expects him to suit up in Week 10 after the Jags’ bye. Fournette’s been dealing with hamstring trouble throughout the season, and Carlyon adds this move was likely more about the Jags’ fear of being shorthanded for much longer rather than Fournette suffering another setback.
Jaguars Place OT Will Richardson On IR
Another day, another Jaguars offensive tackle heading to injured reserve. Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets that Jacksonville is placing rookie lineman Will Richardson on the IR. The move was made to make room for running back Carlos Hyde, who passed his physical and is now officially on the Jaguars’ 53-man roster.
The Jaguars have struggled with injuries up and down their roster, and Richardson will now join fellow offensive tackles Josh Wells and Cam Robinson on the injured reserve. The injuries have forced the team to rely on Josh Walker and Jermey Parnell as their starters, and the duo have underwhelmed so far this season. The move will also leave the Jaguars with only a pair of reserve offensive lineman in Ereck Flowers and Chris Reed.
Following a standout career at NC State, the Jaguars selected Richardson in the fourth round (#129) of this past year’s draft. While the rookie was active for last weekend’s game, he didn’t see the field for a regular season contest. Richardson had been dealing with a knee injury for much of the season, and the ailment has now landed him on the IR.
With Leonard Fournette continuing to deal with a hamstring injury, the Jaguars acquired Hyde from the Browns yesterday.
Jaguars Won Hyde Trade?
- The Jaguars won the Carlos Hyde trade, opines Jason Fitzgerald of Overthecap.com (Twitter link). The cap expert points out that the Jaguars will only have to pay Hyde $1.22MM and can cut him after the season for nothing, while the Browns “paid $3.75M for 6 games and a 5th round pick.” If Hyde can stay healthy and be productive, it could turn into a steal for Jacksonville.
Browns Trade Carlos Hyde To Jaguars
The Browns have agreed to trade running back Carlos Hyde to the Jaguars in exchange for a 2019 fifth-round draft pick, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. It’s a blockbuster deal that gives the Jaguars a proven tailback in the absence of starter Leonard Fournette. 
Just eight months ago, Hyde signed a three-year, $15MM free agent deal with the Browns to become their No. 1 running back. But, with a pair of talented options behind him on the depth chart, the Browns pounced on the opportunity to build on their draft capital while taking a significant salary off the books.
Through six games this year, Hyde hasn’t exactly set the world on fire. He’s averaged just 3.4 yards per carry this year – a career low – though he does have five rushing touchdowns on his stat line.
Prior to joining the Browns, Hyde spent the first four years of his career with the 49ers and served as the starting running back for the final three. All in all, he averaged a solid 4.2 yards per carry in SF and a strong 4.6 yards per attempt in 2016. Hyde also offers capable hands, as evidenced by his 59 catches for 350 yards last season.
In conjunction with T.J. Yeldon, Hyde should provide the Jaguars with a competent rushing game for however long Fournette is sidelined. However, Hyde can hardly be expected to be a panacea for what ails Jacksonville. Blake Bortles‘ inconsistency is clearly costing the Jags as they’re 1-3 in their last four games. In those contests, Bortles has thrown just four touchdown passes against six picks. He’s also been sacked 13 times, so the Jags’ offensive line will have to do better in order to keep defenses honest and open holes for their new running back.
With Hyde out of the picture, the Browns should be able to increase rookie Nick Chubb‘s workload. Browns fans have good reason to be excited about the Georgia product after he amassed 105 yards and two touchdowns off of just two carries in Week 4 against the Raiders. Pass-catching wizard Duke Johnson also figures to get more touches in the team’s revamped backfield.