Tag: K’Lavon Chaisson

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 Jaguars who underachieved in 2021

There are a number of players who didn’t live up to expectations this season, but these are the three who stand out.

No one operating logically thought the Jacksonville Jaguars would be a playoff team in 2021. But even coming off a 1-15 season, there was a reason for optimism. The team had just drafted the most talented quarterback it’s ever had with the first overall pick in Trevor Lawrence, and it hired what it thought was a proven winner in three-time national champion Urban Meyer.

This season’s squad disappointed at every level, though. Poor coaching and returns from the free-agent acquisitions limited Lawrence’s development, and this team enters the 2022 offseason still in desperate need of playmakers on both sides of the ball.

A lot of players on this team didn’t live up to expectations, but here are three who underachieved majorly.

Jags place 10 active roster players on Reserve/COVID-19 list

Jihad Ward, Andrew Norwell, Brandon Linder, and Malcom Brown are just some of the few notables who have been placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list recently for the Jags.

The NFL has been dealing with a league-wide COVID-19 outbreak over the last few weeks, but the Jacksonville Jaguars avoided it in the early part of Week 16. However, their Reserve/COVID-19 list started to garner names the closer the team got to their last game against the New York Jets with linebacker Myles Jack, receiver Laviska Shenault Jr., and guard Ben Bartch going on it alongside others.

Now, heading into Week 17’s game against the New England Patriots, the team has placed another wave of active roster players on the list, five of which were on both sides of the ball. They placed one practice squad player on the list, too.

That list of names are as follows:

 

Of the 10 active players that went on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, seven of them have made at least three starts this season. Those players are tight ends Chris Manhertz, Dan Arnold, and Luke Farrell, guard Andrew Norwell, center Brandon Linder, defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton, edge rusher K’Lavon Chaisson, and defensive lineman Malcom Brown.

The returns of the listed players could vary based on their vaccination status. Vaccinated players can return after two negative tests that are 24 hours apart. However, unvaccinated players have to miss at least 10 days.

So far, the only player who has been revealed as an unvaccinated player is Norwell, so it’s guaranteed that he won’t be back for the upcoming game in New England. However, if Bartch is cleared to come back from the Reserve/COVID-19 list, they could start him at right guard and put Will Richardson at left guard in Norwell’s place.

The tight end spot and defensive line will be the key positions to watch as they have multiple members from their respective groups that are listed. At tight end, the Jags are down to two players in Jacob Hollister and James O’Shaughnessy. But if needed, they could activate tight end, Matt Sokol, for this week from the practice squad.

As for the defensive line, the Jags have Doug Costin and Jeremiah Ledbetter on the practice squad to help if needed, too.

Poll: Should the Jaguars be starting Jihad Ward over K’Lavon Chaisson?

With Chaisson continuing to struggle, moving Ward into a starting role could make a lot of sense for Jacksonville.

Entering the 2021 season, second-year edge rusher K’Lavon Chaisson had a lot to prove. A first-round pick in 2020, Chaisson only totaled 19 tackles and a sack despite playing in every game. He only made three starts on the season.

With new defensive coordinator Joe Cullen bringing a new 3-4-based scheme, Chaisson was expected to find success playing the same standup edge rushing role he played in college at LSU.

But while the return to a more natural position helped his counterpart, Josh Allen (who had a sack in Week 1), Chaisson was once again largely an afterthought. Despite making the start, he only played on 47% of defensive snaps, totaling just two tackles in the process.

Meanwhile, free-agent acquisition Jihad Ward continues to impress. Ward was added to provide depth to the edge-rushing group, but he has outperformed Chaisson, both during the preseason and in the first game of the regular season.

Ward was on the field for more time than Chaisson last week despite coming off the bench, and that resulted in a four-tackle game in which he also put a hit on the quarterback. Ward followed up a solid preseason in which he totaled a sack with another sound performance against the Texans, and it’s raising some questions about who should be starting on the edge.

Chaisson was drafted by the previous regime, but as one of the products of the Jalen Ramsey trade, the Jaguars really need him to become a contributor to help save face. Still, with the way he’s playing right now, it’s hard to argue Ward doesn’t give the defense a better chance.

What do you think, Jags fans? Should coach Urban Meyer make a change at edge rusher in favor of Ward? Let us know in the poll below.

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Jags’ first round pick from Rams continues to slide down draft order

The Rams were able to advance into the divisional round Saturday, which isn’t a good thing for the Jags.

The Los Angeles Rams started their postseason on a high note by earning a 30-20 victory against their divisional rivals in the Seattle Seahawks Saturday. While that’s good news for them, that’s not the case for the Jags as their second first-round pick will continue to fall down the draft order as a result.

With the Rams advancing to the next round of the playoffs and three games remaining, the Jags’ second first-round pick will be no later than 25th. The Buffalo Bills and Tampa Bay Bucs will also be in the same boat as the Rams with their picks after advancing to the divisional round, too.

As many fans can recall, the Jags received the Rams’ first-round picks from 2020 and 2021 and a fourth-rounder for 2021 after trading cornerback Jalen Ramsey. The Rams’ 2020 first-round pick ended up being the 20th selection last April, and the Jags used it on pass-rusher K’Lavon Chaisson out of Louisiana State University.

In the Rams’ case, the picks they’ve lost and will lose appear to be well worth it. Ramsey has performed admirably for them, constantly shutting down their opponent’s No. 1 receiver. As it stands, he has 44 tackles, 10 pass breakups, a pick, and a Pro Football Focus grade of 79.8.

However, that doesn’t mean the Jags can’t come out of the trade as winners to some degree. As seen above, Chaisson was a huge source of quarterback pressures late in the season. If he picks up where he left off in 2021, that would really help, but it will be on the next regime to make the second first-round pick of 2021 count.