5 Jaguars who could surprise us in the upcoming 2022 season

The Jacksonville Jaguars underwent a soft reboot this offseason. Although they hired Doug Pederson to fill their head coach vacancy, they kept general manager Trent Baalke around to fans’ chagrin.

Coming off a 3-14 season, expectations aren’t particularly high for the Jags. However, they should take a step forward in 2022 due to the presence of Trevor Lawrence, who should improve under Pederson’s tutelage. Moreover, Baalke didn’t shy away from spending big in free agency. Most of the players the team acquired should go on to make an impact this upcoming season.

In fact, here are a few newcomers, along with other players that were on the roster last season, who could surprise us this upcoming season.

No. 1 Jaguars player that could surprise us in 2022 – Andre Cisco, S.

Andre Cisco fell to the third round of last year’s draft due to an ACL injury he sustained in 2020. However, he had no setbacks during training camp and was the highest-graded first-year safety in the preseason. However, Andrew Wingard was named the starter opposite Rayshwan Jenkins ahead of Week 1 of the regular season.

Although Cisco was mostly relegated to special teams throughout most of the season, he showed flashes of the ballhawks skills that made him a playmaker at Syracuse once he joined Jacksonville’s starting lineup in Week 17. The former Orangeman will most likely have to compete with Wingard to start in 2022 but he’s the more talented player of the two so he should have no trouble clearing that hurdle.

With one year of NFL experience under his belt, Cisco should do what he does best in 2022, make plays. Back at Syracuse, he logged 13 interceptions and 14 passes defensed in 24 four games. He might not be able to recreate that kind of production in Jacksonville but he will definitely help the Jags’ secondary create a few more turnovers.