The Jacksonville Jaguars’ defense has, well, underperformed shall we say thus far in 2020. Some of that has been due to the pass-rush’s struggles to get home and the secondary has been torn apart, reminiscent of swiss cheese at times. Heading into Week 5, the overall unit had allowed a league-high 77% completion against rival quarterbacks, certainly not an encouraging figure.
So, what can the team do to improve this?
Well, there are a number of things, however, getting another stud corner opposite of CJ Henderson would sure up some inconsistency in the back end of the defense.
At 6-foot-2, 207-pounds, Virginia Tech’s Caleb Farley is among the top rated prospects of the 2021 NFL Draft. With him making the decision to opt out this season, Farley ended his college tenure with six interceptions and an impressive 19 passes defended in two seasons.
While his statistics are no doubt impressive, it’s his physical profile that has NFL scouts and coaches enamored. For a corner, Farley is one of the more physically imposing players. While his size is notable, his quickness and long-speed certainly don’t suffer either.
Virginia Tech CB Caleb Farley(3) has the physical tools to be the next dominant shutdown corner. His ability to click and close is similar to 2020 CB1 Jeff Okudah’s. pic.twitter.com/Y7HHgcZLi6
— Matt Valdovinos (@MVScouting) June 9, 2020
In this play above, Farley’s click and close is on full display as the long corner blankets the opposing receiver. When taking into account the quickness he has in addition to his size, it’s easy to see why scouts are intrigued.
Most ACC QBs quickly learned last year that it’s not worth testing Caleb Farley. Such an easy moving athlete at his size. Always attacks the football. Hard not to fall in love with the Virginia Tech products tape. pic.twitter.com/UEbEm7k8aN
— Bobby Football (@RobPaulNFL) August 19, 2020
Here’s another case of countless examples of just how fluid Farley is. On a key fourth-and-goal situation, Farley comes up big for the Hokies and reels in an interception, flipping the field for his team. He once again used his size to box out the receiver and runs the route of the receiver perfectly.
Virginia Tech CB Caleb Farley showing the speed and body position to pin Claypool to the sideline to prevent the TD #NFLDraft #VaTech pic.twitter.com/eXgDt2UQ6u
— Brian Johannes (@Draft_Brian) July 24, 2020
In the clip above, Farley used his size to push Chase Claypool to the sideline boundary forcing an incompletion in the endzone. Claypool is having quite the rookie season for the Pittsburgh Steelers and was a combine phenom. Farley’s went toe-to-toe with the former Fighting Irish receiver, one of the toughest tasks asked of any cornerback last season, and he performed admirably.
If the Jaguars are looking for secondary help in the 2021 NFL Draft and a corner opposite of Henderson, Farley is one of the class’ best and has the physical traits to be a Pro Bowl caliber player.