3 Observations on the Jaguars' First Depth Chart

What do we think of the Jaguars' first depth chart?

Jaguars Training Camp: Ryan Nielsen on Depth Chart /

The Jacksonville Jaguars released their first depth chart for the 2024 season on Tuesday, and it had a few glaring aspects.

What are our biggest takeaways on the depth chart and what do we think it means moving forward? We break it down below.

Plenty of inconsistency in the secondary

The most interesting parts of the depth chart were on the defensive side, namely in the secondary. Christian Braswell was listed as the only nickel cornerback, Darnell Savage was listed at free safety, and Antonio Johnson was listed as Andre Cisco's backup at strong safety. In addition, rookie cornerbacks Jarrian Jones and De'Antre Prince were buried and relegated to the final spots in the room.

While training camp rules prevent us from disclosing much on the roles of players, we can say that the depth chart didn't exactly jive with what we have seen during training camp in a few roles. We can say, however, that there are no signs that Jarrian Jones is a fourth-string cornerback. The preseason will be revealing for how these roles will actually sort out.

Making sense of Chad Muma

The other notable aspect of the defense's depth chart was the placement of Chad Muma. Muma was listed as a co-starter with Yasir Abdullah at strong side linebacker, which was far from a surprise. Muma was also listed as a co-starter with Devin Lloyd at weakside linebacker, which resulted in a few questions and some raised eyebrows throughout the fan base and local media.

For one, Lloyd has confirmed he is playing middle linebacker this year, not the WILL position. Secondly, it has not seemed like much of a competition for the starting role between Lloyd and Muma. Muma has taken some non-SAM reps, but the majority of his snaps in camp have come at that spot. With that said, defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen had some high praise for the third-year linebacker on Wednesday.

“Yeah, he's a multi-position player. One of the things in OTAs – he did a really good job – he played all three spots. He can rush the passer; he drops into coverage. So just what his skill set allows you to do, a little bit more with him within the scheme that we do," Nielsen said.

"He's done a great job in terms of understanding the scheme. And he has gotten better fundamentals and technique-wise. Matt [House] has done a great job getting him prepared because when you play three different positions – rush the passer, drop into coverage – there’s a lot of job requirements that you have to do. The time that he focuses on individual and practice, you’re definitely seeing an improvement.”

No surprises at quarterback

There was no question who would sit atop the depth chart at quarterback; the days of Gardner Minshew OR Trevor Lawrence are gone. But there has always been some debate about the No. 2 quarterback role, even if Mac Jones has consistently been seen as the favorite to be Lawrence's backup.

To little surprise, Jones was given the nod over Beathard at quarterback. Jones has had his moments in camp but has ultimately been a bit inconsistent, but he has pulled away from Beathard in recent practices both in terms of production and reps. Jones looks locked in as the No. 2 quarterback, just like was always projected.

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