The Jags didn’t have a lot of opt outs, however, the few that they had impacted the team’s experience.
The NFL’s deadline for players to opt out officially passed at 4 p.m. EST, which now means it’s time for teams to turn their attention towards the 2020 regular season. Like most teams, the Jags were impacted to a degree, losing three veterans in linebacker and defensive end Lerentee McCray, defensive tackle Al Woods, and cornerback Rashaan Melvin for the season.
At the same time, the Jags could’ve sustained a bigger blow from their group of opt outs, as teams like the New England Patriots almost hit 10 players. All of that said, there are still some takeaways that are worth mentioning when looking at the Jags’ current roster, and here are the four that stood out the most:
Barring any changes, the Jags potentially lost their 2 oldest defensive starters
With Woods and Melvin opting out, the Jags team as a whole got a little younger. Woods was the Jags’ oldest player at 33 years-of-age, while Melvin was tied as the second oldest at 30 years-of-age with D.J. Hayden and Mike Glennon.
Barring any major moves to get replacements, the Jags could enter the season with a very young starting defense with Abry Jones (29) being the oldest player (if he beats out DaVon Hamilton). The next oldest player would be Rodney Gunter, who turned 28 in January.
DaVon Hamilton has a better chance to start now with Woods out
As mentioned above, with Woods out of the picture Hamilton and Jones are probably going to be competing to start at defensive tackle. With Jones having 47 career starts and being the team’s longest-tenured veteran, and Hamilton currently on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, Jones looks to have the advantage.
However, when Hamilton returns, he shouldn’t be counted out. While at Ohio State, the 6-foot-4, 327-pounder showed off an ability to be stout against the run and penetrate offenses.
Tre Herndon has a clear path to pick up where he left off in 2019
It initially looked as though Melvin could enter a competition to start against Tre Herndon, who started in all but two games last season. The reason for that was A.J. Bouye dealing with injuries and, of course, the Jags shipping Jalen Ramsey to the Los Angeles Rams.
In the beginning, it was a little bit of an adjustment for the second-year player, but as the season went on he got better and ultimately finished 2019 with 55 tackles and three picks. Now, with Melvin opting out, the path to becoming a starter again is clearer for Herndon, unless an undrafted rookie like Luq Barcoo comes out of the woods.
The Jags’ undrafted CBs have an increased chance to make the roster
Continuing on Barcoo, it now feels like he has a good chance to make the team although it’s more likely as the fifth cornerback. He was a highly-sought-after undrafted free-agent with a draftable grade and the competition for him seemingly was stiff because the Jags gave him a record deal.
While Barcoo has a good chance to make the final 53-man roster, there will be some competitors he’ll have to fight off in fellow undrafted rookies Amari Henderson and Kobe Williams.
Henderson is a talented corner who is battle-tested coming from the Atlantic Coast Conference where he faced elite receiver prospects like Tee Higgins and Justyn Ross.
Meanwhile, Williams totaled some impressive coverage grades while at Arizona State. In fact, according to the Sun Devil’s official site, he was ranked 30th in terms of his overall cornerback grade in 2019 and had the 27th-highest grade in coverage (82.3).
