PFT PRESEASON POWER RANKINGS:  NO. 15

We're only three spots away from the playoff-caliber teams, so we're certain to piss off a trio of cities over the next three days as we pull the plug on their teams' rise up the ranks of the worst to the first.

First up?  A city in a state whose three NFL franchises are all still alive in this here game we've concocted.

The state is Florida.  And the city isn't Miami or Tampa.

The Jacksonville Jaguars.

We can already here the click-click-clicking of the new e-mails flooding into the box.

But the Jaguars were 12-4 last year. . . .  How can you rank them so low?

Our opinion?  Last year was an aberration for the Jags.  Nine of the twelve wins came against the Jets, Titans, Texans, Browns, 49ers, Cardinals and Ravens.

But they beat both Super Bowl teams last year, you moron!  They were better than both Super Bowl teams!

Frankly, we don't think we'll get many e-mails along those lines, since even the most Homerish of Jag fans knows that the win at Pittsburgh was a fluke, fueled by the horrendous performance of quarterback Tommy Maddox.

So despite that superficially impressive record, there's still a gap between the Jaguars and the truly elite AFC teams.  Need proof?  Take a gander at the tapes of the Pats' thumping of Jacksonville in the Wild Card round. 

The Jags didn't do much to improve the roster over 2005, with the biggest free agent acquisitions being two guys named Williams.  Cornerback Brian got a huge signing bonus despite the fact that he wasn't a starter in Minnesota, and tackle Mike got run out of Buffalo before landing in Jacksonville.

The biggest loss?  The retirement of receiver Jimmy Smith, who was still the No. 1 option in the passing game last season at age 36, came as a surprise.  The only bright spot is that the team is relatively deep at the receiver position.  The question, though, is whether any of them can or will step up to be the top target for quarterback Byron Leftwich a/k/a Fat Albert a/k/a Reuben Sandwich.

We thought that Ernest Wilford was on his way to becoming "the guy," but he has slipped back behind first-round bust Reggie Williams.  Last year's first-rounder, Matt "Moonshine" Jones, could be a possibility, since he's definitely got the speed to get deep behind the coverage and the size to make the tough catches in traffic.

At tailback, Fred Taylor is still the workhorse, even as that 2"-by-4" settles nicely into the crack of his ass.  Assuming that the team doesn't try to put a late-offseason salary squeeze on Taylor -- and assuming that he'll be all business once the season gets rolling -- he still might have some gas in his gullet.

The one good move that the Jags made this past offseason was the addition of Mike "Meathead" Tice to the coaching staff.  Though no one would ever confuse Tice with, say, someone who isn't an idiot, he's an effective assistant coach and has a great knack for developing young offensive linemen.  As long as they don't ever make him the head coach, the Jaguars will be glad that they got him.

On defense, the roster is basically the same, but for the addition of Williams.  In other words, it's basically the same. 

We're not saying that the Jags will be terrible in 2006.  Instead, they'll be precisely what they should have been last year -- a solid squad that doesn't make the playoffs.

Now for the fantasy grades.

Quarterback:  Byron Leftwich missed five games in 2005, but otherwise was solid in this third year.  David Garrard's so-so performance during Leftwich's absence likely quieted the in-house clamoring that Garrard should be the starter, and Leftwich likely will benefit from another year of experience.  We give him a B-.

Running back:  When healthy for a full season, Fred Taylor is a fantasy stud.  The only problem is that he's been available for all 16 games only twice in his career.  And now he's 30.  He gets a B-.

Wide receiver:  Our money is on Moonshine to fill Jimmy Smith's void.  While all of the other owners are jumping on overhyped players, take a flyer on the guy who can fly.  B.

Tight end:  Kyle Brady is in the homestretch of his career, and Marcedes Lewis is just getting started.  We'd go with a third receiver before either of them.

Defense:  The Jags had a top-ten defense in 2005.  We put them in that first cut of rough next to squads like the Steelers and the Bears.