QUARTERBACK: Even if one assumed Gabbert were a bust, which I personally doubt he will be, he’s still almost certainly going to be better than last year simply by virtue of the numerous reasons others have listed above. And here’s a mathematical proof that he already is: everyone seems to agree Chad Henne is both an acceptable quarterback and better than Gabbert was last year. Well all reports are that Gabbert is now appreciably better than Henne is, so Gabbert must be substantially improved, just as intelligent people would expect of any top-10 quarterback entering his second year who faced the various obstacles Gabbert did his first year.

RECEIVERS: Our #1 WR from last year (Mike Thomas) is now the #3 or #4 WR. Marcedes Lewis will more likely resemble 2010 Marcedes than 2011 Marcedes now that his personal issues are resolved. And the Jags have the highly regarded Jerry Sullivan as WR coach instead of some guy essentially plucked off the street and then fired mid-season.

COACHING: Mike Mularkey and his staff both care and have talent. Jack Del Rio and his staff certainly did not care, and many lacked talent.

PUNTER: Matt Turk was responsible for at least one (Panthers) and arguably two (Bengals) losses last year. Bryan Anger is supposedly a special punter, and even if he isn’t special, he’s likely to be at least average, which is an improvement.

So every weakness has improved, maybe dramatically. And there’s no reason to believe that the Jaguars’ 2011 strengths in rushing and defense won’t carry over to 2012. How does a team under these circumstances then drop from 7th-worst to 3rd-worst?

After the free agent signings, drafting Blackmon, and a full off-season of prep for Gabbert, a new coach, and the returning rushing leader…there’s nowhere but up to go from last year, honestly.

OK and 5-11 too. Only reason that many wins is because of what you stated. I agree with the writeup and would like to add that the WR coach is probably the biggest get this offseason.

Wimper was pretty good to start last year but got injured and was basically a turnstile after that but don’t let that get in the way of parrots saying he sucks.

Based on what?

The team lost 11 games. Not good, right? Throw out the loss at the Jets when Luke McCown started and the two blowout losses under an interim head coach to Atlanta and San Diego.

In those other 8 losses, they had the ball in final minutes with a chance to win or tie at home against Cincinnati & Houston and on the road against Carolina, Cleveland & Pittsburgh. And they played close games at home against New Orleans and on the road against Houston and Tennessee.

It sounds crazy, but even with all that was stacked against them: Rookie QB with no offseason, head coach fired, lame duck coaches on offense, worst WR group in the league, record amount of players on IR. The team wasn’t that far from being a .500 team. And they should only be better with a stable coaching staff, better players on offense and entire offseason to work together.

You have a 2nd year starting QB, a rookie #1 WR, and Bob Bratkowski as your OC.

Get used to that name. Bob Bratkowski. Synonymous with many a four letter word in my house.

Mularkey’s football philosophy is stuck in the past. He’d rather get a 4 yards rushing the ball than 20 throught the air.

He simply won’t make it in the modern NFL era.

If Khan wants to eventually get this team out of Jacksonville, Mike Mularkey was the perfect hire. His offense will force the team’s way out of the city by boring it’s fans to death.

It doesn’t work.

They’re bad and won’t make the playoffs but don’t be surprised if they pull up to 7 wins out.

Overall, I think it was a fair write-up. But I do disagree with the above. It was hardly a makeshift offensive line. The first four line spots were manned by the same guys, all homegrown players. Monroe was very solid at left tackle. Meester at center and Nwaneri at right guard, each had one of their better seasons. Left guard Rackley struggled early on as a rookie but played much better as the season progressed.

The issue was the right tackle spot once Eben Britton went on IR. They tried veteran Guy Whimper and rookie Cameron Bradfield and neither played well. That position was the only weak spot on the line.

If Britton can stay healthy, the line could be among the best in the league.