5 Jacksonville Jaguars who must earn bigger roles in 2022

The Jacksonville Jaguars spent the offseason loading up on talent and trying to fill as many roster holes as possible. Many of the newcomers they acquired in free agency and the NFL Draft will go on to have featured roles.

On the other hand, there are a few players that were on the roster in 2021 that performed well when given the opportunity and should get the opportunity to earn more playing time. In particular, these five need to get a bigger rule in the 2022 season.

No. 1 Jaguars player who must earn a bigger role – Dan Arnold, TE.

It took the Jaguars a while to figure out the tight end last year but after several attempts, they got it right when they acquired Dan Arnold from the Carolina Panthers after Week 3 of the 2021 season. This is funny (or sad?) when you take into account that the team’s brass could have signed him as a free agent but didn’t think the price was right.

Anyway, Arnold went on to become the Jaguars’ number one tight end but injuries and the overall dysfunction of the team held him back. In the end, he only appeared in 25 percent of the team’s total snaps on offense, which seems like too little because Trevor Lawrence seemed to favor him whenever he was on the field. In fact, he only played more than 70 percent of the offensive snaps in just two games.

Even though the Jaguars’ brass signed former New York Giants tight end Evan Engram in free agency, they must find a way to feature Arnold as much as possible. As the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, Doug Pederson often deployed two-tight-end formations and it wouldn’t be shocking to see him do the same in Jacksonville. Either way, Arnold needs to get more playing time and targets.