Jacksonville Jaguars: K’Lavon Chaisson’s impact on the defense

The Jacksonville Jaguars may have found another steal in this year’s NFL Draft in LSU’s K’Lavon Chaisson.

If the Jacksonville Jaguars do stick to a 4-3 base defense this season, how does it affect rookie K’Lavon Chaisson?

Chaisson, who was drafted out of LSU with the 20th pick in April, is listed as a linebacker but has a skill set to play standing up as an edge rusher as well. He’s also been mentioned in several publications as a potential Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate. Given everything that the Jaguars are doing to change their defense, what role will the former Tigers star have?

How much of an impact can he make in his first year?

If the Jacksonville Jaguars lined up right now to start the season, veteran free agents signee Joe Schobert would play in the middle. Myles Jack would move back outside to his natural position. Chaisson could figure on the strong side or play on the front four with second-year phenom Josh Allen and Yannick Ngakoue, who is still a member of the organization.

The pass rusher has yet to sign his franchise tag tender.

The bottom line is the versatility that the rookie gives defensive coordinator Todd Wash is a real plus and should be used in as many sub-packages as possible.

While I have heard from many Jacksonville Jaguars fans that C.J. Henderson is the most important rookie in this draft class, I beg to differ. I believe the establishment of a solid front four and pass rush, which has been disrupted because of the loss of Calais Campbell, is one of the first things the Jaguars must repair heading into the season.

More from Jacksonville Jaguars News

• Jacksonville Jaguars should welcome Derrick Henry into the kingdom
• Jaguars Rumors: Trent Baalke seems to be getting respect now
• Jaguars News: This division rival might be making a big move
• Former Jacksonville Jaguars S Johnathan Cyprien: “New Profession, Same Standards”
• Jacksonville Jaguars TE Evan Engram officially gets the franchise tag: 3 takeaways

And as I have stated this past week, the pass rush could actually be better than last year, where the Jaguars finish seventh in the NFL in sacks, mainly because Wash has many bodies to use in a rotation where athleticism and speed have been improved.

For all of the naysayers who believe the defense is still in transition, wouldn’t it be something if the Jaguars were able to show that the rotation this season could be better than the one the team used the past two seasons?

If the Jaguars are able to get anything out of Chaisson like they were able to get out of Allen in 2019, where he did not play the majority of the team’s defense of snaps, then they will have two exciting pass rushers they can build around. If they are able to keep Ngakoue on the roster in 2020, then there are three edge rushers with plenty of speed to burn.

Offensive coordinators will have a hard time trying to keep all three stars off the edge. This will also help the team’s interior defense with pass rush up the middle. And if teams are forced to run the football because they are unable to establish the passing game, then the interior defensive line should be improved enough to hold their end of defensive responsibility.

While Chaisson was brought in primarily to work on the outside, his ability to help change the offensive game plan could make the Jacksonville Jaguars a stronger defense as a whole in 2020 and in years moving forward.