Jacksonville Jaguars have the most high-end talent on defense in the NFL
By Daniel Lago
The Jacksonville Jaguars have accumulated a plethora of talent on defense and it’s finally paying off – the Jaguars have the most blue chip players in the NFL.
Over the course of five offseasons now, Jacksonville Jaguars general manager David Caldwell has had more than enough time to mold the roster in his image.
In 2017, it appears all of his decisions are finally coming to a head.
Heading into week 12, the Jaguars sit atop the AFC South with a 7-3 record and they boast the best defense in the NFL.
After surviving the Cleveland Browns on Sunday (hey, a win is a win), the Jaguars head into the final stretch of the season with a chance to nab a top 2 seed if the Pittsburgh Steelers or New England Patriots stumble over the next few weeks.
If the Jaguars end up making noise in the playoffs, it’s going to be on the strength of the considerable talent on defense.
Bucky Brooks over at NFL.com took a look at all the rosters in the NFL and ranked them by how much high-end talent they have. It’s a bit of an odd criteria, but essentially Brooks is ranking the teams by how many Pro Bowl players they have.
On the strength of their defense, the Jaguars ranked number 1.
"1) JACKSONVILLE JAGUARSBlue players: Leonard Fournette, RB; Allen Robinson, WR (IR); Malik Jackson, DT; Marcell Dareus, DT; Calais Campbell, DE; Yannick Ngakoue, DE; Telvin Smith, LB; Myles Jack, LB; Jalen Ramsey, CB; A.J. Bouye, CB.The Jaguars have finally parlayed a decade’s worth of top-10 picks into the league’s most talented roster. The team has not only loaded up on defensive playmakers in the draft, but they’ve added some dynamic contributors through free agency. With defenders comprising the overwhelming majority of players on their blue list, it’s not surprising the Jaguars‘ D is spearheading a current playoff team."
Everyone listed on Bucky’s snippet there (outside of Allen Robinson) has a case to make the Pro Bowl.
Four guys – Campbell, Smith, Jalen, and Bouye – should be in the mix to make the All Pro team.
This list doesn’t even include other contributors who have made a huge impact so far this season (Tashaun Gipson, Barry Church, and Dante Fowler Jr.).
Yes, the Jaguars still have a huge question mark at quarterback and the wide receiver depth chart is getting desperately thing, but it’s hard not to believe in this team when there are so many damn good players on defense.
At their best, the Jaguars can compete with anyone in the league and that bodes well come January when the quality of the opponent will go up significantly.