Jacksonville Jaguars: 30 greatest players in franchise history

(Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
(Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /
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Calais Campbell, Jacksonville Jaguars
(Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images) /

(2017-present). Calais Campbell. 19. player. 52. . DE

  • 1x First-Team All-Pro (2017)
  • 1x Pro Bowl (2017)
  • Led team in sacks in 2017 (14.5)
  • PFWA Defensive Player of the Year (2017)
  • The leader of the #Sacksonville defensive front-seven

After nine great seasons with the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC, defensive end Calais Campbell shocked the football world when he took his talents to Duval County in 2017 NFL free agency. Many saw him signing a four-year, $60 million deal with the then lowly Jaguars as a money grab.

Too bad Calais Campbell saw what many of us weren’t willing to see: arguably the greatest defense in football just waiting to be cultivated. Campbell would help give the Jaguars’ front-seven the necessary bite it needed in the pass rush to best compliment its emerging star secondary.

Yes, adding cornerback A.J. Bouye into the fold absolutely helped, but you don’t have #Sacksonville without Campbell. For a guy who was already 30, who outside of his own family saw Campbell having the greatest year of his career a full decade into his pro career?

Campbell had a monster 2017 campaign, where he recorded an absurd 14.5 quarterback sacks. He averaged nearly a sack per game, as Campbell made his third trip to the Pro Bowl in his career. Campbell ended up garnering not just his first All-Pro first team nod, but was named PFWA’s Defensive Player of the Year.

Though he has only been in Duval County for a year, Campbell is already the Mayor of #Sacksonville. He has aged gracefully and has brought a level of great professionalism to the organization.

While he will probably never earn Canton enshrinement, Campbell has a chance to go down as the greatest defensive lineman in franchise history. Just play out the rest of that four-year deal and we’ll see.