While the Jacksonville Jaguars are having a hard time getting after the quarterback, pass rusher K'Lavon Chaisson is enjoying a career renaissance with the New England Patriots. Now, it isn't overly uncommon for players to flourish once they leave the team that drafted them, but the Jags should surely feel some kind of regret watching Swiper become the player they expected when they took him with the 20th overall pick in 2020.
The fact that Josh Hines-Allen has been underwhelming this season brings a bigger spotlight to Chaisson's stunning success in New England.
While Jaguars DE Josh Hines-Allen is struggling, K'Lavon Chaisson is thriving
Josh Hines-Allen has posted 2.0 sacks this season. Granted, sacks aren't the only way to measure a pass rusher's success, but the 2019 first-round pick hasn't been a big factor this season outside of his tipped pass of C.J. Stroud in Week 3. You could make the case that opposing teams are double-teaming him on every play, and that would be a somewhat valid point.
The issue with that is that Hines-Allen is one of the highest-paid pass rushers in the NFL. And unlike his peers, he isn't having a big impact. Aidan Hutchinson, Myles Garrett, Micah Parsons, and Maxx Crosby, all of them, are also facing plenty of double teams. Yet, they manage to bring the quarterback down and make plays. Simply, the Jags aren't getting enough bang for their buck after giving the two-time Pro Bowl nod a four-year, $141.5 million deal in 2024.
Meanwhile, Chaisson is making $3 million with the Patriots this season after posting a career-high five sacks with the Las Vegas Raiders last year. Already, he's tallied a personal-best 6.5 in 10 games in Foxboro. At this rate, he's on pace to post his first-ever 10-sack season.
Related: An upcoming Bengals free agent may be the perfect fix for the Jags' pass-rush woes
K'Lavon Chaisson wasn't a game-changer with the Jaguars
For the sake of transparency, the Jaguars let K'Lavon Chaisson walk in 2024 because he had failed to live up to expectations. In four seasons, he only recorded five sacks and progressively saw his playing time decrease. By Year 4, he was nothing more than a rotational piece in the pass rush. And that's not the kind of impact the Jags envisioned when they drafted him in 2020.
On top of that, it was the past regime the one that let Chaisson walk, and the Carolina Panthers released him before he put it all together with the Raiders. This is a long-winded way to say that even if Jacksonville had re-signed the former LSU Tiger, he might not have come through.
Still, it must sting to watch K'Lavon Chaisson thrive while the Jaguars are struggling to bring the heat. The could certainly use a player of his caliber...