Jacksonville Jaguars have top defensive triplets in the NFL with Ramsey, Smith, Campbell
By Daniel Lago
The Jacksonville Jaguars proved to be elite on defense in 2017 and a big reason why was an embarrassment of talent at every level – enough to make them the top defensive triplets.
A term made famous by the early 90s cowboys, the NFL has had a tradition of crowning offensive triplets – generally a combination of a quarterback, running back, and wide receiver. The Cowboys originally had Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, and Michael Irvin. The Jacksonville Jaguars had their own for a while in the late 90s and early 2000s with Mark Brunell, Fred Taylor, and Jimmy Smith.
The term has died down some in recent years with the rise of running back by committees, but it’s still in the modern football lexicon.
Bucky Brooks over at NFL.com took the long-lived mythos of offensive triplets and applied it to the defensive side of the ball. Unsurprisingly, he chose a trio from Jacksonville as his top group:
"1) Jacksonville Jaguars: DE Calais Campbell, LB Telvin Smith and CB Jalen Ramsey (or CB A.J. Bouye). The Jags nearly made the Super Bowl last season behind a star-studded defense that routinely punished opponents into submission. Campbell sets the tone at the point of attack as a shop-wreckin’ pass rusher with a non-stop motor and a power-based game. The three-time Pro Bowler finished with 14.5 sacks in 2017, helping “Sacksonville” tally the second-most sacks in the NFL. Smith is a blazing sideline-to-sideline playmaker with great instincts and thump. Ramsey has quickly emerged as the gold standard in cornerback play today. A world-class athlete with an old-school football mentality, he suffocates WR1s on the perimeter. And the Jags’ trio wouldn’t miss a beat if Bouye replaced Ramsey. The 26-year-old’s a superb tactician with exceptional footwork and recognition skills."
No other team in the NFL can really touch the Jaguars in this regard. Campbell and Ramsey are two solid All Pros and candidates for defensive player of the year, while Telvin Smith is arguably the best 4-3 outside linebacker in the league. It’s even more of a credit to the Jaguars that Brooks feels comfortable taking either Ramsey or Bouye here.
You could actually assemble a “second string” triplets with the Jaguars that would likely be the second best in the NFL with Yannick Ngakoue, Myles Jack, and A.J. Bouye.
It’s safe to say the Jaguars are pretty loaded on defense.