Tag: D.J. Chark Jr.

Star LSU receiver Kayshon Boutte to wear coveted No. 7 jersey in 2022

Boutte will carry on one of LSU’s proudest traditions in 2022.

Junior Tigers receiver Kayshon Boutte will carry on one of the program’s proudest traditions as it was announced on Thursday that he will wear the No. 7 jersey on offense for LSU this fall.

The No. 7 jersey is a relatively recent, and it’s given every year to a dynamic playmaker who also demonstrates leadership qualities. Recent players to don the jersey include [autotag]Tyrann Mathieu[/autotag], [autotag]Derek Stingley Jr.[/autotag], [autotag]D.J. Chark Jr[/autotag]. and [autotag]Leonard Fournette[/autotag].

“I am excited to get back on the field with my brothers and work all season,” Boutte said in LSU’s press release. “To do it in the No. 7, and follow in the footsteps of some of the greatest players in LSU history, is an honor.”

Here’s a first look at Boutte in his new threads.

There aren’t many players in the SEC that enter the 2022 season with higher expectations than Boutte. An injury ended what was shaping up to be a stellar sophomore season after six games, but he still managed to lead the team in receiving touchdowns on the year with nine. It’s truly scary to imagine how productive he would have been if he had played in all 13 games.

LSU certainly has some holes to fill in Year 1 under coach [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag], but it also returns some potential superstars, and Boutte headlines that group. Many see him as a first-round pick in 2023, and he should be a leader on and off the field for the Tigers this fall.

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Brian Kelly reveals plans for No. 7 and 18 jerseys

Kelly said the decision to award the two prestigious jersey numbers will ultimately rest with the players.

LSU has a number of football traditions, but one of its proudest are the pair of honorary jersey numbers. Each year, players are selected to hold the prestigious No. 7 and No. 18 jerseys, with No. 7 traditionally being given to a top playmaker and No. 18 being worn by a (usually veteran) player who exemplifies on and off-field excellence.

Last year, cornerback [autotag]Derek Stingley Jr.[/autotag] wore No. 7 while linebacker [autotag]Damone Clark[/autotag] and running back [autotag]Chris Curry[/autotag] wore No. 18.

When LSU released its first roster for 2022, many noticed that neither jersey had been assigned. At his press conference on Saturday, new coach [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] offered some clarification.

Kelly said that he will leave it up to the players whether those jerseys are assigned this season.

It’s hard to imagine no one on this year’s squad will wear either number, but given that Kelly is still learning the leadership dynamics within the team, it makes sense that he would leave that decision ultimately up to the players’ discretion.

Both jerseys have been worn by a number of stars and future NFL players. [autotag]Patrick Peterson[/autotag], [autotag]Tyrann Mathieu[/autotag], [autotag]D.J. Chark Jr.[/autotag] and [autotag]Grant Delpit[/autotag] all wore No. 7, while No. 18 has been shared by [autotag]Matt Mauck[/autotag], [autotag]Jacob Hester[/autotag], [autotag]Lloyd Cushenberry[/autotag] and [autotag]K’Lavon Chaisson[/autotag].

We’ll have to wait and see who (if anyone) receives those honors this season, but it seems that decision will ultimately rest with the players.

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3 former LSU players named among the NFL’s top free agents this offseason

Here are the Tigers in the league that could see a big pay day this offseason.

It was a great year for Tigers in the NFL. Most notably, quarterback Joe Burrow had a dominant second season, and after being reunited with Ja’Marr Chase, the pair led the Cincinnati Bengals to the Super Bowl, losing a close game to the Los Angeles Rams.

However, that resulted in Super Bowl rings for another pair of LSU football alumni in Odell Beckham Jr. and Andrew Whitworth.

Now the offseason is upon us, and we’re just over two weeks away from the beginning of NFL free agency on March 16. When the time comes for unrestricted free agents to sign new contracts, there will be several former LSU players that will be among the top options available.

Touchdown Wire ranked the top 30 potential free agents on both offense and defense, and three Tigers players cracked the list. Here’s where each stands.

Next: Beckham could be back on the move

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5 pending free agent receivers the Jaguars should consider signing

This team needs receiver help, and there are a number of good candidates that could hit the open market this offseason.

Anyone who watched this Jacksonville Jaguars offense at all last season knows this is a team in desperate need of receiver help. While players like Marvin Jones Jr., Jamal Agnew and Laquon Treadwell all had solid contributions, the unit as a whole didn’t get the job done.

Addressing the receiver position is a major priority this offseason, and while it’s something the team will almost certainly attempt to address in the 2022 NFL draft, it may want to look at several free-agent additions as well.

This is a good year to need a receiver, as there are several players with expiring contracts that could hit free agency. Not all of them will reach the open market; Packers receiver Davante Adams, for example, would have been perhaps the top free agent in the entire league, but reports indicate that he could be franchise tagged.

Still, even with Adams of the board, there will surely be several intriguing options in free agency. Here are five that the Jaguars should look into when free agency begins next month.

Pair of Jaguars land in top 60 of Pro Football Focus’ free agent rankings

D.J. Chark Jr. and Andrew Norwell are among the better potential free agents available this offseason, per PFF.

As Jacksonville enters a crucial offseason for the franchise, much of the emphasis has been placed on the players the team will look to add, both in free agency and the offseason. And while the Jaguars have an abundance of needs and will certainly look to spend some money in free agency, they also have some key decisions to make regarding current players with expiring contracts.

The biggest one is receiver D.J. Chark Jr. He’s coming off a broken ankle that ended his fourth season after just four games, and he hasn’t been able to match the production from his second year in 2019, when he reached the 1,000-yard threshold with Gardner Minshew II as his quarterback.

However, he has still shown a lot of promise, and keeping the big-play option in the fold is perhaps the team’s biggest priority in free agency. Pro Football Focus also values Chark fairly highly, ranking him 51st in its top 140 free agents list.

Chark’s relationship with new head coach Urban Meyer didn’t get off to the best start, as Meyer said he was a “big guy that played little.” In a wide receiver room devoid of top-end talent, Chark was supposed to be that guy. Unfortunately, an ankle injury sustained in Week 4 knocked him out for the remainder of what has been quite the eventful season in Jacksonville. Chark may look to depart for greener pastures, and there should be a handful of teams interested in adding a 6-foot-4 wide receiver with 4.3-second speed.

While Chark could certainly decide to play elsewhere, the Jags should do everything in their power to keep that from happening. His absence almost certainly handicapped the development of quarterback Trevor Lawrence, and considering how big of a need the position is, Jacksonville isn’t in a position to let talented players walk.

But Chark isn’t the only Jaguar on the PFF list, and he’s followed shortly after by left guard Andrew Norwell, who ranks at No. 57.

Norwell had two years and $25 million remaining on the five-year extension he signed in 2018, but the Jaguars negotiated a pay cut and contract reduction, making him a free agent after the 2021 season. Norwell responded with his eighth straight 70.0-plus pass-blocking grade, and there will almost certainly be a handful of teams looking for a veteran guard with his extremely high floor.

With the Jags renegotiating the terms of Norwell’s agreement, the veteran is set to hit free agency this offseason. Jacksonville could look to keep him around, especially considering it will also probably rely on Ben Bartch to start on the right side next season, but his production hasn’t necessarily earned another deal.

Though he’s been solid in pass blocking, he’s much less trustworthy in run blocking. His PFF grade for the season of 66.7 is just average, and he ranked 43rd among 82 qualifying guards in the league this season.

If the Jags choose to make an offer, it will almost certainly be considerably less than he was making on his previous deal. If he wants more or is just looking for a fresh start, he could look to leave.

The Jags have another key free agent not mentioned here in Cam Robinson, who played the 2021 season on the franchise tag. But Robinson is about to sign his second contract and will likely want more than his production in Year 5 justified.

The Jaguars are nearly certain to let at least one of these franchise centerpieces walk, with Robinson and/or Norwell seemingly the most likely candidates. They could still choose to move on from Chark, but that would make the need for receivers this offseason even greater, applying quite a bit of pressure to the front office to acquire some talent there.

Regardless, it will be interesting to see how the team approaches this offseason and building the roster for the future.

Poll: What should the Jags do with D.J. Chark Jr.?

The Jags have several options regarding Chark, whose contract is expiring, this offseason.

Jacksonville has several difficult decisions to make this offseason, but perhaps at the top of that list is the one regarding receiver D.J. Chark, who is set to enter his fifth year. Chark had a slow start as a rookie, but he burst onto the scene his sophomore season in 2019 with a 1,000-yard season.

But his production dropped off in 2020 with struggles at the quarterback position, and a broken ankle four games into the 2021 season ended his year. Now, Chark’s rookie contract is expiring, and the Jags have to make a call.

This team is certainly not in a position to move on from promising receivers, and the play of the group without Chark on the field was perhaps the best argument for keeping him around. But re-signing him won’t be cheap, and it would likely be a deal where the value exceeds his production to this point in his career.

If the Jaguars want to push the decision back another year, they could franchise tag Chark, which they have the capital to do. But that would be an expensive option, and the $18.5 million salary projected for tagged receivers by Spotrac would likely be more expensive than any long-term extension he could sign.

But even if the Jags choose to extend him, they could go in a few different directions. Considering his selling point is mostly the upside demonstrated by his 2019 season, he likely won’t be among the hottest free agent commodities this offseason. While they could give him a long-term, expensive deal, they could likely also do a smaller, one or two-year “prove-it” contract.

Per Spotrac, a market-value contract for Chark would be a four-year deal averaging $11.9 million each season. Considering the Jags have among the most cap space yet again this offseason, that’s a deal they could certainly afford, especially if it will aid in the development of quarterback Trevor Lawrence. There are certainly questions about Chark, but those questions could keep Chark from testing free agency if he’s able to get that offer sheet.

What do you think, Jags fans? Should the team let Chark test the open market? Should it franchise tag him? Or should the team look to give him an extension, whether that be short or long-term? Let us know in the poll down below.

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Extending D.J. Chark Jr. could be manageable, per Spotrac’s market value projections

An extension for Chark would likely be worth around $11.9 million annually.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have several areas of need this offseason, but there aren’t many bigger priorities than adding weapons in the passing game to aid in the development of second-year quarterback Trevor Lawrence. As far as the receiver position goes, the team has one massive decision to make regarding D.J. Chark Jr.

The former second-round pick struggled with drops as a rookie in 2018, but he was vastly improved in his second season and has been the team’s most reliable playmaker since. His 2021 season was cut short with a broken ankle in Week 4, though, and now it’s time to decide whether to offer him an extension or let him test free agency.

The Jags could decide to go in a different direction at receiver, but if they decide to extend Chark, it might hurt their pockets too much, at least in the eyes of Spotrac. According to them, a market value deal for Chark would be in the range of $47.6 million over four years, which would pay an average of $11.9 million annually.

That deal would make him just the 22nd highest-paid receiver in the league, which seems like good value for a player with Chark’s upside. Perhaps more importantly, it’s not a price tag that would prohibit the Jags from targeting a top-tier receiver in free agency like Chris Godwin.

The Jags don’t have a lot of big contracts on the books, and with the team currently projected to have the third-most available cap space in the league, they could easily afford to sign Chark. Considering his decent production — 2,042 yards and 15 touchdowns on 147 catches in four years — that seems like a deal they’d be happy to make, even if he’s only crossed the 1,000-yard threshold once back in 2019.

Jaguars updates the status of key pair of injured players

Darrell Bevell gave some details on the recovery process for D.J. Chark Jr. and Travis Etienne.

There are no excuses for the way the Jacksonville Jaguars’ offense has played this season. Despite adding an incredibly talented rookie quarterback in Trevor Lawrence, the unit regressed from last year’s 1-15 season. The team didn’t do nearly enough to address that side of the ball this offseason, and that has had a material impact on the quality of play.

But with that being said, it is still fair to point out that this is a unit that has pretty much never been at full strength. It lost first-round pick Travis Etienne to a Lisfranc injury in his foot during the preseason, and top receiver D.J. Chark Jr. suffered a season-ending broken ankle in Week 4.

Things have been tough without those two available, and interim coach Darrell Bevell updated the status of both on Friday, according to First Coast News’ Mia O’Brien.

Etienne had been using a scooter to get around since his surgery, and though he’s not back to running, the fact that he is now walking on his own is progress. Chark is apparently in a similar spot, though based on what O’Brien wrote, it sounds like he’s a bit further along.

The Jags have a big decision to make this offseason regarding Chark, whose rookie contract is set to expire after this season. If they choose to keep him around, they’ll hope he’s able to return by the start of training camp. The same goes for Etienne, who remains mostly an enigma after seeing just two carries for three yards in two preseason appearances.

That was a questionable first-round selection for a team that already had an above-average running back in James Robinson, but it’s clear this team needed more playmakers, and it’s possible that Etienne would have made a difference if he were healthy this season.

Both players are very important to the Jags’ plans moving forward, and they definitely look to re-sign Chark because receiver is already a need even if he comes back. We’ll continue to monitor their recovery process as we get into the offseason.

Report: D.J. Chark Jr. suffered fractured ankle, out indefinitely

Chark was carted off the field against Cincinnati, and according to Ian Rapoport, the injury is serious.

It looks like Jacksonville may have to brave the rest of the season without one of its best offensive players. According to NFL insider Ian Rapoport, the injury that resulted in receiver D.J. Chark Jr. being carted off the field on the Jaguars opening drive was a fractured ankle.

This is a massive loss for a Jags offense that was already struggling to find its footing with a rookie quarterback under center in Trevor Lawrence. Now, expect leading receiver Marvin Jones Jr. to see even more targets moving forward with Chark possibly being out for a while (if not the rest of the season).

Tyron Johnson could take Chark’s place as a starter, but it’s also possible that Tavon Austin, who was placed on the injured reserve to begin the season but made his Jags debut on Thursday night against the Bengals, will take over that spot.

Regardless, the depth of the receiver group will be tested big-time without Chark, and there will be a lot of pressure on Jones and Laviska Shenault Jr. to replace his production.

Jaguars WR D.J. Chark Jr. questionable to return after being carted off the field on opening drive

Chark had his leg rolled up on, and he wasn’t putting weight on it as he got onto the cart.

Jacksonville’s offense suffered a major blow early in Thursday night’s game against Cincinnati, as third-year receiver D.J. Chark was carted off the field with an apparent left leg injury. On the preceding play, right tackle Jawaan Taylor rolled up on the back of Chark’s leg, and according to ESPN’s Michael DiRocco, he wasn’t putting weight on his left leg as he got onto the cart.

Per the Jaguars PR account, Chark is questionable to return to the game against the Bengals with an ankle injury.

While Chark hasn’t been Trevor Lawrence’s top target to start the season (that honor goes to Marvin Jones Jr.), he is Jacksonville’s second-leading receiver with seven catches for 154 yards and two touchdowns through the first three games.

Without him, Tyron Johnson is likely to get more reps on the outside, as well as Tavon Austin, who is making his Jaguars debut tonight. The Jags will hope that Chark’s injury isn’t severe and that he can return to the field sooner rather than later.