Jacksonville Jaguars need more production from DE K’Lavon Chaisson

The Jacksonville Jaguars are still waiting on DE K’Lavon Chaisson.

After seven weeks of NFL football, the Jacksonville Jaguars bye week couldn’t have come at a better time. After winning their first game of the season, they have dropped six consecutive games. How did that happen? For one, the defense is among the worst in the league and have given up at least 30 points in all six losses. Head coach Doug Marrone says that he’s going to ‘bust his ass’. If that’s the case, he then must demand better execution than the one the team has had these past six games.

The picture isn’t bright when we look at the numbers. The ‘Jags’ currently rank 28th in points allowed and have registered a paltry six sacks and six turnovers, good for 25th in the league. They simply aren’t going to win many games when their defense can’t stop anyone and they can force many turnovers.

Although many players have underperformed on defense, the Jaguars are surely disappointed with defensive end K’Lavon Chaisson‘s lack of production. The 20th overall pick of 2020’s players’ selection process was supposed to become a fixture in the team’s defensive line. Instead, he has been a non-factor this season.

What have the Jacksonville Jaguars gotten out of this year’s 20th overall pick?

Chaisson was a fine player at LSU, so it makes sense the Jaguars would target him in the first round of 2020’s players selection process. Back in 2017, he was part of the SEC All-Freshman Year and finished his three-year collegiate career with 92 total tackles, 9.5 sacks, and 19 tackles for a loss even though he missed pretty much the whole 2018 season due to a knee injury.

The Jaguars liked Chaisson enough that they chose him with their second first-round pick this year with the expectation of generating pressure alongside edge defender Josh Allen. That hasn’t been the case though and Chaisson has been a non-factor so far. Although he has dressed up for all seven games and has played 53 percent of the Jaguars defensive snaps and registered just ten total tackles, one sack, and one pass deflection.

Against the Detroit Lions in Week 6, defensive end Jabaal Sheard, who is now with the New York Giants, had a sack but was called back due to Chaisson being offsides. Looking back, it might not look like much, but the rookie needs to eliminate this kind of mistake. He only has two penalties this year, but those are the kind of mental errors that can be avoided.

Although Chaisson isn’t the sole reason why the ‘Jags’ defense is struggling, he isn’t making much of a difference either. The Jags coaching staff must take advantage of their bye week and look for ways to get him involved. Maybe the rookie has been overwhelmed and needs to catch his breath. Regardless of the reason, the LSU standout needs to play up to his potential if the Jaguars want to take a step towards fixing their defensive woes.