Calais Campbell and Jalen Ramsey are on pace for All-Pro accolades
By Billy Long
Both Calais Campbell and Jalen Ramsey are showing their dominance, and making strong cases for NFL All-Pro recognition at season’s end.
The Jacksonville Jaguars have spent time and money trying to build a menacing defense, and in 2017, the effort is finally paying off in a major way.
NFL.com’s Matt Harmon used next-gen stats to comprise what the NFL All-Pro team looks like through week four, and both defensive lineman Calais Campbell and cornerback Jalen Ramsey made the list.
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On Campbell, Harmon notes there may not have been a better free agent signing than the Jaguars bringing in Calais, and details his impact on the team:
"His presence is a big reason why the Jaguars are the best pass-rushing team in the NFL this season. Campbell’s pressure rate of 15.0 leads all interior defensive linemen. While his own dominant play is obviously a huge boom to the Jaguars ferocious stop unit, his ability to elevate the other players on their defensive line is invaluable. With teams having to account for the game-wrecking presence of Campbell, the young players surrounding him are thriving."
On Jalen Ramsey, Harmon speaks on Ramsey’s budding superstar status, eloquently detailing his talents:
"Jalen Ramsey showed superstar ability in his first pro season and he’s done nothing to squelch the burgeoning hype train surrounding his career. The 2016 fifth-overall pick embodies the term shutdown corner."
If you have watched the Jaguars this season, neither player getting serious recognition should came as a surprise at all. Calais Campbell is an absolute monster on the defensive line, and has been an unwelcome visitor in opponents’ backfield all season. Jalen Ramsey has been the textbook definition of a shutdown corner, and teams have opted to not even bother throwing the ball in his general vicinity.
Campbell and Ramsey are a prototypical example of having both veteran talent and a young superstar, and both should only make their claim to All-Pro stardom even stronger as the season continues.