Prior to this month's draft, 1SBD's Mark Hogan takes an in-depth look into each team's current projected starters and identifies strengths and lingering team needs after the first waves of free agency.
Player stats collected from Pro Football Reference. Salary information per Over The Cap.
TAKEAWAYS
PROS
- Jacksonville's defense had another great year in 2018, ranking Top 5 in points and yards allowed. Defensive end Malik Jackson moved on in free agency, but he was the only key defensive player not to return. Replacing Jackson will be a top priority in the draft but there's plenty of difference makers at the position available. Time might be running out on AJ Bouye's time with the team - he could be a cap casualty in a year - but with him around in 2019 the team should again grade well on defense.
CONS
- Considering only pass rusher and quarterback - positions Jacksonville is deep at - are projected to go before the team picks seventh overall, the Jags could bag one of the draft's top positional talents at an area of need. Trading back - and even drafting a QB of the future? - remains a possibility, but the team could opt to address its offensive line. The Jaguars gave up the third most sacks (53.0) last year and desperately needs to address the position. Or else risk acquiring Nick Foles for nothing.
- The benchmark for being the focus point of an offense is recording 1,000 yards in a single season. None of Jacksonville's wide receivers have broken even 900 yards in a season. Until the team gets a difference-maker for passing game, opponents will continue to target running back Leonard Fournette and let the Jaguars lack of a passing game beat itself. The Jaguars offense recorded the second-fewest points and sixth-fewest yards in 2018, and lost wide receiver Donte Moncrief in free agency.
- A better tight end would certainly help improve the Jaguars offense. Luckily for the team, this draft class is deep at the position, so Geoff Swaim might not remain the starter for long. Ideally the team could find a big play-making threat for the middle of the field that could also be a strong blocker.
Projected Starters
NOTE:
NAME, Draft Round.Overall Pick (TEAM, year). Starts/Games Played. Age. Cap Hit 2019
QB has an additional 'total yards, number of attempts (yards per attempt)' figure.
RB, WR and TE have an additional ‘total yards / number of touches (yards per touch)’ statistic
Age as of Sunday September 8, 2019 (Week 1)
QUARTERBACK
NICK FOLES, 3.88 (PHI, 2012). 44/54. 11,165 yards/ 1,581 attempts. (7.1 y/a). 30-years-old. $12,000,000
RUNNING BACK
LEONARD FOURNETTE, 1.04 (JAC, 2017). 21/21. 1,966 yards/ 459 touches (4.3). 24-years-old. $7,404,786
WIDE RECEIVER
DEDE WESTBROOK, 4.110 (JAC, 2017). 14/23. 1,154 yards/ 102 touches (11.3). 25-years-old. $814,041
CHRIS CONLEY, 3.76 (KC, 2015). 34/53. 1,238 yards/ 104 touches (11.9). 26-years-old. $2,066,666
MARQISE LEE, 2.39 (JAC, 2014). 29/53. 2,265 yards/ 186 touches (12.2). 27-years-old. $9,000,000
Average: 75th overall pick. 77 starts/ 129 games played (60.0%). 4,657 yards/ 392 touches (11.9). 26-years-old. Total cap hit: $11.9M
TIGHT END
GEOFF SWAIM, 7.246 (DAL, 2015). 18/37. 336 yards/ 35 touches (9.6). 25-years-old. $2,081,250
OFFENSIVE LINE
CAM ROBINSON, 2.34 (JAC, 2017). 17/18. 23-years-old. $1,914,035
ANDREW NORWELL, undrafted (CAR, 2014). 65/66. 27-years-old. $16,000,000
BRANDON LINDER, 3.93 (JAC, 2014). 54/54. 27-years-old. $5,781,250
AJ CANN, 3.67 (JAC, 2015). 59/60. 27-years-old. $2,422,708
WILL RICHARDSON, 4.129 (JAC, 2018). 0/0. 23-years-old. $720,698
Average: 116th overall pick. 194 starts/ 198 games played (96.0%). 25.4-years-old. Total cap hit: $26.8M
DEFENSIVE LINE
YANNICK NGAKOUE, 3.69 (JAC, 2016). 47/48. 24-years-old. $2,239,044
TAVEN BRYAN, 1.29 (JAC, 2018). 1/16. 23-years-old. $2,307,944
MARCELL DAREUS, 1.03 (BUF, 2011). 101/115. 29-years-old. $5,585,000
CALAIS CAMPBELL, 1.50 (AZ, 2008). 152/170. 33-years-old. $14,500,000
Average: 38th overall pick. 301 starts/ 349 games played (86.2%). 27.3-years-old. Total cap hit: $24.6M
LINEBACKERS
TELVIN SMITH, 5.144 (JAC, 2014). 69/76. 28-years-old. $12,560,235
MYLES JACK, 2.36 (JAC, 2016). 42/48. 24-years-old. $2,015,503
JAKE RYAN, 4.129 (GB, 2015). 27/43. 27-years-old. $1,250,000
Average: 103rd overall pick. 138 starts/ 167 games played (82.6%). 26.3-years-old. Total cap hit: $15.8M
CORNERBACK
JALEN RAMSEY, 1.05 (JAC, 2016). 48/48. 24-years-old. $7,429,863
AJ BOUYE, undrafted (HOU, 2013). 48/79. 28-years-old. $15,406,250
Average: 131st overall pick. 96 starts/ 127 games played (75.6%). 26-years-old. Total cap hit: $22.8M
SAFETY
RONNIE HARRISON, 3.93 (JAC, 2018). 8/14. 22-years-old. $818,258
JARROD WILSON, undrafted (JAC, 2016). 2/47. 25-years-old. $2,083,333
Average: 176th overall pick. 10 starts/ 61 games played (16.4%). 23.5-years-old. Total cap hit: $2.9M
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