4 Jacksonville Jaguars who cannot afford to regress in 2022

The Jacksonville Jaguars hired Doug Pederson as their head coach to turn them into a competitive team and win games, something they haven’t done often in the last two years. However, Pederson alone can’t fix things and the Jags will need all the players they signed in free-agent additions to have an impact right off the bat. Similarly, they’re counting on their 2022 draft class to contribute as soon as possible.

Furthermore, these four players need to continue playing at a high level if the Jaguars want to turn the corner in 2022.

No. 1 Jaguars player who can’t regress in 2022 – Tyson Campbell, CB.

The Jaguars raised a few eyebrows last year when they selected Georgia cornerback Tyson Campbell with the 33rd overall pick in the 2021 draft. After all, they had signed Shaquill Griffin and brought back Sidney Jones a month earlier.

Although Campbell was off to a slow start in 2021, he progressively got better as the season progressed and ended up becoming a key cog in the Jaguars’ secondary, logging a team-high two interceptions. The former Bulldog should be better in Year 2 if he continues to get better and could even develop into a Pro Bowl cornerback.

Gregg Rosenthal of NFL Media recently wondered if Campbell is guaranteed to start in 2022 after the addition of Darious Williams in free agency but the truth is that the second-year cornerback is one of the Jags’ most dynamic young players, and there’s no reason to think he won’t start opposite of Griffin in Week 1, with Williams slated to line up in the slot.

The only way Campbell would not start is if he struggles and that currently seems unlikely. But if he does, cornerback would no longer be one of the Jags’ strongest positions in 2022.