4 Jacksonville Jaguars who could get bumped down the depth chart

No. 2 Jaguars player who could get bumped down: Dan Arnold, TE

Needing a boost at the tight end position, the Jags traded for Dan Arnold after Week 3 of the 2021 regular season. Looking back, it was an attempt at getting the position right after not addressing it correctly last offseason.

The trade ended up paying off, as Arnold went on to contribute right off the bat, hauling in two passes for 29 yards just three days after landing in Jacksonville. From Weeks 5 to 9, he was targeted 38 times and caught 25 passes for 286 yards and an average of 11.4 yards per reception, which isn’t bad when you take into account that he hardly had any time to get acquainted with the Jaguars’ playbook.

Arnold quickly became one of Trevor Lawrence’s favorite targets but suffered an MCL injury that forced him to miss the last six games of the season. He didn’t get a touchdown grab in his first year in Jacksonville but he did catch 35 receptions for 405 yards. He should be fully healthy for training camp but he will most likely enter the regular season as the team’s TE2 due to the presence of Evan Engram, who signed a one-year deal earlier this year.

It’s important to note that Engram’s contract is worth $9 million. That’s not the kind of money you pay a backup tight end, so barring significant injury, he will get a feature role on the Jaguars’ offense. Arnold will still get his fair share of targets in 2022 but not as many as Engram.