Jacksonville Jaguars: 5 Bold predictions for AFC Championship vs. Patriots
4. Jalen Ramsey will shut down Rob Gronkowski
One of the big issues that the Tennessee Titans (there were many, to be fair) had with the Patriots in the Divisional Round was defending Rob Gronkowski. New England’s star tight end is a matchup nightmare for most anyone as few defensive players in the league have the combination of size, instincts and athleticism to contend with what Gronk brings to the Patriots passing game. However, Jalen Ramsey might be one of those guys.
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The Jaguars cornerback has certainly established himself as an elite player in this league. One of the things that makes him so special, though, is his size and versatility. He’s a big man that could viably play safety at an NFL level if asked to. Thus, he’s almost the exact type of player that you would want to construct in a lab for trying to stop Gronkowski. As a result, I think that’s exactly what Jacksonville’s star does on Sunday afternoon.
3. Bortles will out-rush Leonard Fournette
No, this isn’t about the healthy of Leonard Fournette. While the rookie running back injured his ankle last week in their Divisional Round triumph over the Pittsburgh Steelers, he has improved throughout this week in practice — so much so that he’s not even been on their injury report to end the week. Thus, the LSU product should be good to go without any concern.
What is a concern, however, is that the Patriots run defense, while not good overall, has been solid against schemes like what the Jaguars run. When teams line up in power sets against New England, they’re a capable defense. Thus, I don’t think that the Jaguars have much success pounding Fournette up the middle. And, given Bortles’ ability to take off from time to time, I believe the quarterback out-rushes his star back behind him.