Jaguars Dede Westbrook remains the team’s top pass catching threat
By David Levin
Despite the team adding depth at wide receiver and making changes at the tight end position, Dede Westbrook is the Jaguars top vertical threat.
We all waited to see what the Jacksonville Jaguars would to add more depth at wide receiver in the NFL Draft. We all thought the team needed more speed and another playmaker to spread the field for new quarterback Nick Foles and offensive coordinator, John DeFilippo.
It never happened. The Jaguars appear set at wide receiver for the coming season, adding Chris Conley in free agency and banking on the return of Marqise Lee to a questionable group of pass catchers. If the Jaguars are going to get better in the passing game, Dede Westbrook is once again going to be the leader of the pack, with four or five other pass catchers following his lead.
It’s Westbrook’s versatility and his rise in the ranks last season that should have DiFilippo and wide receivers coach Keenan McCardell optimistic about the upcoming season. To think about what the former fourth-round pick out of Oklahoma in 2017 could do with a passing game that is more complete is encouraging.
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To think of what he could have done last season had the play at quarterback had been better than it was. A season of 66 catches for 717 yards and five touchdowns could have been better by a third if Blake Bortles or Cody Kessler showed any kind of prowess on the playing field.
In his third season, with Foles at quarterback, the thought of a more wide-open game plan and speed to match him with DJ Chark, Conley, Lee when he is fully healthy from an ACL injury and potentially Keelan Cole (more on that in another story), Westbrook’s best days are ahead of him for the Jaguars.
Dave Caldwell says Dede Westbrook’s versatility gives them more options when drafting a WR. Can go with outside or inside guy. #Jaguars
— Daniel Popper (@danielrpopper) April 22, 2019
Chark is another interesting player to watch as his speed and size is one of the reasons the Jaguars grabbed him in the second round of the NFL Draft last season. The former LSU star made his name on special teams his rookie campaign but saw more time on the field in obvious passing situations before an injury sidelined him for five weeks toward the end of the season.
Lee will be asked to once again serve as the veteran leader of the group and Conley, who has had injury issues himself, could be a main target of Foles’ if he can show he is fully healthy. But it will be Westbrook who could have the best season of his NFL career.
After a moderately successful fantasy season last season, Westbrook could be a favorite as a solid No. 2 wide receiver on most draft boards. The Jaguars hope he puts up as many fantasy points as possible. It means he’s having one heck of a 2019 season.
Next. How did NFL.com rank the Jaguars draft class. dark
It also means there is a good chance the team’s passing game is doing much better than last year.