4 Jacksonville Jaguars players who cannot afford to get complacent in 2023
Urban Meyer was supposed to turn the Jacksonville Jaguars into a perennial winner when he got hired in 2021 but instead left them in shambles. Then again, this makes Doug Pederson's rebuild even more impressive in retrospect. After all, Pederson had the Jags qualify for the postseason and win the AFC South title in just his first season at the helm.
Similarly, players that had previously underperformed under Meyer played at a high level last year. Some of these players will need to keep playing at a high level in 2023 if Jacksonville wants to return to the playoffs and seize the division crown for the second straight year. In particular, these four Jaguars cannot afford to get complacent next season.
No. 4 Jaguars player that can't get complacent: DaVon Hamilton: DT
The Jags weren't very good in 2020. In fact, you could say out loud that they were outright bad and nobody would bat an eye. Having said that, not everything was doom and gloom in Jacksonville that year. One of the few bright spots was the then-rookie defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton.
A third-round pick in the 2020 draft, Hamilton seized a starting job by Week 6 and quickly became one of the Jaguars' most productive players on defense. However, a knee injury put an end to this season prematurely. Hamilton returned to the starting lineup the following season and has gone on to become a staple of the Jacksonville defensive front.
Last season, Hamilton registered a career-high 2.5 sacks and 56 total tackles while playing 53 percent of the team's defensive snaps. The Jaguars rewarded the Ohio State product with a three-year deal worth $34 million just days before the 2023 NFL Draft took place.
Not long after getting his extension, Hamilton says that he wants to take his game to the next level and be known as more than just a run stopper, "That's my thing, but I really want to be more diverse as a whole defensive lineman in the NFL".
If Hamilton does get better at bringing the heat up front next season, the Jaguars pass rush will then get a boost.