Not only did the Jacksonville Jaguars use most of their 12 draft picks on defense this April, but they also used both of their first round selections on defensive players. Of course, those players were Florida cornerback C.J. Henderson and Louisiana State pass-rusher K’Lavon Chaisson.
With the team having a tremendous amount of turnover on defense, the staff and team will need big contributions out of both in 2020. That’s especially the case for defensive coordinator Todd Wash, who is coming off a season where the Jags’ defense was ranked 24th in yards allowed per game with an average of 375.4.
“We want both of them to be plugged in in the first game and playing the majority of the reps,” Wash told the media last week. “Obviously, this is a unique offseason that we had. We know they have the physical skill to play at this level with both of them being drafted in the first round. We anticipate both of them to be solid, impact players for us Week 1. We’re going to figure lot more of that once we get on grass in training camp, but both of them physically have the abilities to be impact players early in their career.”
Wash is right, the Jags will need both rookies to be key contributors in 2020, much like their first picks of 2019 were in Josh Allen and Jawaan Taylor. Essentially, Henderson will be taking the place of traded cornerbacks Jalen Ramsey or A.J. Bouye, while Chaisson could be replacing the presence of disgruntled pass-rusher Yannick Ngakoue. However, there could be some growing pains when considering the NFL is going through an irregular offseason that eliminated organized team activities and minicamp.
Additionally, there may not be a preseason period for the Jags, and if it is, it could be shortened. Simply put, this means both rookies will be getting a crash learning course.
The good thing is the Jags’ schedule isn’t as strong during the first half as it is in the second half, with games against teams like the Miami Dolphins, Detroit Lions, and Cincinnati Bengals scheduled early. That should help ease Henderson and Chaisson into things before the going gets significantly tougher during the second half.