5 intriguing Jaguars position battles to watch during 2022 offseason

Jaguars most intriguing offseason battle No. 4 – Starting safety.

The Jaguars made several additions to their safety room last offseason. Besides re-signing veteran Josh Jones, they signed Rayshawnk Jenkins and Rudy Ford in free agency. Furthermore, they took Andre Cisco in the third round of the selection meeting. The team’s brass ultimately released Jones, along with Jarrod Wilson, before the start of the 2021 season, and Wingard and Jenkins ended up starting in Week 1.

Andrew Wingard and Rayshawn Jenkins started for most of the year but Daniel Thomas and Cisco got playing time towards the end of the year. Jenkins wasn’t particularly great and suffered an ankle injury that forced him to miss three games. He should get a clean slate under defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell and will most likely start at one safety spot against the Washington Commanders in Week 1. Meanwhile, Cisco and Wingard will compete for the other starting spot.

Wingard signed as an undrafted free agent in 2019 and worked his way up the depth chart, starting 19 games over the last two years. He was chosen over Cisco to start last year but there’s a new coaching staff in place and he will have to once again compete for the spot next to Jenkins.

For his part, Cisco was a playmaker at Syracuse but dealt with injuries the last two years of his collegiate career, which led to a draft slide. He was healthy for his rookie campaign and while he joined the starting lineup near the end of the 2021 season, he displayed flashes of the talent that made him a ballhawk for the Orangeman. With one year of experience under his belt, he will have a legitimate chance to beat Wingard.