JaguarsTalk: Jacksonvilles 53 Man Roster - The Defense

JaguarsTalk: The Quest for 53 Continues. Chris Harrison, will you accept this rose?

We’ve spent the last two columns speaking predominantly about the Jaguars offense but someone reminded me the other day that it is defense that wins championships. Offense just sells the tickets. With that little nook and cranny in mind we will be gifting our last 25 available roses to defensive Jags today. Will somebody please find Chris Harrison and the remaining bouquet.

We here at JaguarsTalk went a little crazy with the first 28 roses, but we felt it important to give Trevor Lawrence everything he needed to be successful. Ironically, what we believe will make him most successful on offense, is his defense. Jacksonville has to eliminate their pension of playing from behind. It changes the entire game plan and really handcuffs Lawrence and the rest of the offense into running “expected” plays, giving the opposing defense the upper hand. This forces bad throws, interceptions, sacks, injuries, and overall lack of offensive growth as a team. In order to strengthen the Jaguars offense, Jacksonville will need to enhance their defense. They did this in the offseason and most especially in the draft. Travon Walker will you accept this rose?

Travon will bookend a linebacking core that, while young and inexperienced, will be dominant by midseason. Jacksonville’s defensive coordinator, Mike Caldwell, is running a base 3-4 defensive scheme (3 linemen and 4 backers), with necessary variation to account for certain offenses, as well as Caldwell’s aggressive style of play. (Tangent-ish: I know, shocker. JaguarsTalk is most excited about the linebackers and what Caldwell will be able to do with them. These guys are going to be the engine that makes the Jags run). In a 3-4 scheme you can’t have just one bookend so, Josh Allen, will you accept this rose? 

It gets slightly murky when wading into inside linebacker waters. Thank god we are only determining who gets a roster spot and not a starting spot since I would not want to have to choose between off season acquisition Foyesade Oluokun and newly drafted Chad Muma. But if I had to choose, Oluokun gets the start. He is a beast. Led the NFL in tackles last year (192) and he is on the upswing. My man has one speed and a fantastic football attitude. We here at JaguarsTalk really, really, really like this guy. Let’s toss a couple petals their way. Oluokun and Muma, will you accept these roses? Also roaming the inside linebacker position is Utah phenom Devin Lloyd. Trading back into the first round, Baalke grabbed Lloyd at an extreme discount. Most thought Lloyd was going in the top half of the first round if not in the top 10. Devin Lloyd will you accept this rose?

Now we have the starters in place (plus Muma) so we need some relief. Some seat fillers for when our boys hit the head or succumb to hits of an injurious nature. Jamir Jones, Shaquille Quarterman and K’lavon Chaisson, will you accept these roses? Let’s take a second to admire all of these men backing the line, as they are the crew that will propel Jacksonville to compete for a playoff spot this season. And now let’s move on to the defensive line. 

The roses are flying off the shelf and we have a lot of positions yet to fill. A lot of people are asking why Travon Walker isn’t playing with his hand in the dirt doing his best impression of Jevon Kearse. Travon’s versatility will certainly allow him to “freak-out” with one hand down when called for, but until he has mastered his starting position on two feet, all three point stance duties fall to linemen like off-season grab, Folorunso Fatukasi. This massive UConn product (6’4”, 318lb) can play multiple positions on the line and will no doubt be moved around a bit to maximize his run stuffing abilities. Fatukasi, will you accept this rose? Backing him up will be Arden Key. Key is a boom-or-bust acquisition hailing from the San Francisco 49ers. The man can pass rush, at least he could last season, but prior to that he was a bust. If Key keeps last years momentum going he could push for more playing time. Either way he was an upgrade in an area where it was needed. Arden Key, will you accept this rose?

Nose tackle DaVon Hamiliton already has a pick-six and we are barely in the infancy of this 2022 pre-pre-season. After being given what Trevor Lawrence described as “an early birthday gift” (a late gift may have been more accurate as Hamilton was born on Feb. 1), Hamilton has solidified his starting NT job. Mr. Hamilton, will you accept this rose? Not to be outdone Roy Robertson-Harris, the ultimate team player, when asked why the Jags suddenly turned up the pressure over the last two games of the 2021 season said “you give your edge-rusher a middle push and [don’t give] a quarterback a chance to step up, that’s why Josh and Smoot got all those sacks. We’re just trying to do all the heavy lifting so those boys can go crazy.” Thanks to my man Michael DiRocco for the quote assist. Roy Robertson- Harris and Dawuane Smoot will you accept these roses?

Harrison, where are we with these flowers? Do your job man. Stop making me go back and count. Please hold…Thirteen left? A baker's dozen. That doesn’t give us a lot to work with Chris. Especially considering we have saved what we here consider to be our weakest link, for last. Let’s get into the DBs.

Tyson Campbell out of Georgia, who started opposite Griffin last year, will have a first string challenge from Darious Williams. Let’s flip that last sentence. Williams will have the challenge of Campbell. Williams is definitely the starter after a hefty contract including $18m guaranteed. That contract was the direct result of Campbell’s subpar performance in 2021, which, considering Campbell’s draft spot, we are all hoping he can turn around this year. Either way they are both getting floral today. Gentlemen will the two of you accept these roses?

The others, Rayshawn Jenkins, Andrew Wingard, Shaquill Griffin, Rudy Ford, Andre Cisco, Daniel Thomas, will you accept these roses?

Let’s step away from the DBs for a moment as I seem to have forgotten about a couple of important but not so glamorous positions on which we must expend a rose. Long snapper, Ross Matiscik, will you accept this rose? Also, kick returner Willie Johnson will you accept this rose? Thankfully we don’t need a backup placekicker since punter Logan Cooke can do the honors if, in fact, it becomes absolutely necessary. Thus no rose is wasted on place kickers, Santoso and Mevis.

By my count that leaves us with three remaining roses. I am stuck, truly miffed, as I have four players remaining that I think will be able to positively impact the 2022 Jaguars. We are definitely offering a rose to a man that I think will be considered a real late round draft gem. Montaric Brown out of Arkansas, will you accept this rose? Xavier Crawford and Daniel Thomas, you two will have to fight over a single rose. Okay fine, we’ll make the difficult decision, but we will employ the help of British lawyer and renowned lyricist, Frederic Weatherly. Xavier Crawford, will you accept this rose? Sorry Danny-boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling. From glen to glen and down the mountainside. The summer’s gone and all the roses falling. ‘Tis you, ‘tis you must go and Crawford bide.

And then there was one. Chris Harrison steps forward for the obligatory, “gentlemen this is the final rose.” With the final rose of the -2022 Jacksonville Jaguars 53 man roster entirely based upon a smattering of OTA performances- rose ceremony, JaguarsTalk would like to ask Ouachita Baptist cornerback Gregory Junior, will you accept this rose?

Please check my count, as I’ve said before, geometry isn’t my thing. Feel free to point out where I went wrong and if you don’t like our roses, yell at Harrison in the comment section.