Jacksonville Jaguars: 30 greatest players in franchise history

• 1x Pro Bowl (2017)
• 1x Second-Team All-Pro (2017)
• 2x team leader in tackles (2016-17)
• Greatest intro to a retirement speech of all-time for Paul Posluszny

Though only four years into his Jaguars career, linebacker Telvin Smith has emerged as the leader this linebacking corps needs to contend for a Super Bowl. It helps that he had the perfect mentor in battery mate Paul Posluszny in the first four years.

Smith might have been a BCS National Champion and an All-ACC player while at Florida State, but he was only a fifth-round pick by the Jaguars in the 2014 NFL Draft. Though undersized for the position at 6-foot-3, 215 pounds, Smith has so far made a name for himself with his great speed on the outside edge.

He has already twice led the team in tackling in his first four years with the club. Nobody has had more tackles on the dominating Jaguars defense of the last two seasons than has Smith. This would help propel him to his first Pro Bowl in 2017, as well as second-team All-Pro honors.

While he only has 6.5 quarterback sacks to his name in the NFL, the Jaguars are in good shape defensively even after Posluszny’s retirement this offseason. Just listen to Smith’s passionate introductory comments before Posluszny finally went to the podium to retire as a Jaguar.

As long as Smith is out on the edge roaming at linebacker, the Jaguars should feel very comfortable about what they have defensively. Smith is the type of player that defensive coordinator Todd Wash has to be fired up about having on his defense in the midst of his prime in his late 20s.