99 Days Until Jaguars Kickoff: Is Jeremiah Ledbetter a Sleeper To Make the Roster?

Could big No. 99 find a spot on the Jaguars' Week 1 roster?

In 99 days, the Jacksonville Jaguars will kickoff against the Indianapolis Colts as they take their first step toward contending for a Super Bowl title.

But until the Jaguars' Week 1 tilt vs. the Colts on Sept. 10, we will be taking a look at 100 storylines in 100 days.

Related: 100 Days Until Jaguars Kickoff: How Can Christian Kirk Reach Key Milestone?

Next up in the series: the No. 99. 

Our look at 99 brings us to the Jaguars' resident No. 99: defensive lineman Jeremiah Ledbetter, one of the true dark horses to make the Jaguars' roster in 2023.

A player who mostly went under the radar a year ago, Ledbetter played just 11 snaps in one game for the Jaguars in 2022, recording a quarterback hit in the process. Otherwise, Ledbetter spent time on the practice squad, waiting for his chance to be elevated. From Week 9 to Week 15, Ledbetter waited on the sidelines before making his Jaguars debut in Week 16 against the Jets.

Ledbetter has appeared in 22 career games, including 16 games with the Detroit Lions in 2017. Ledbetter played two seasons at Arkansas from 2015-16 and compiled 104 tackles, including 15 for loss and 7.5 sacks.

But for as much as Ledbetter is seemingly unknown in the grand scheme of things, he isn't nearly as underrated inside of TIAA Bank Field. Ledbetter is someone the Jaguars' defensive staff took a liking to last season thanks to his scheme fit and work ethic, with the tangible upside of his talent being on full display each practice. 

Now, Ledbetter could have a legitimate chance to make noise in training camp and earn a spot on the roster. The Jaguars are locked in when it comes to their top four interior linemen in DaVon Hamilton, Roy Robertson-Harris, Foley Fatukasi, and Adam Gotsis. 

But then there are snaps to be won. Rookie fourth-round pick Tyler Lacy figures to factor into the equation, but it would not be a shock to see Ledbetter win out over free-agent signings Henry Mondeaux and Michael Dogbe.

"I mean listen, you're always looking but we got some young players that we're excited about and we got to give them opportunities to perform and we do have some really good depth at the D-line position now and I think what's going to do is going to create some really good second and third level competition and see who can work into that rotation," Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said at the start of OTAs. 

"Obviously extending Roy, extending DaVon, Foley going into year two with us. Those three guys are going to be the guys that we have to lean on. But then you know, follow that up with guys like Adam Gotsis and Ledbetter in there and you know, just start seeing some of the younger players and now Yasir, you know draft a guy like Yasir who can play on the edge and De'Shaan Dixon, who was on the 53 last year, to be able to maybe move him inside and give him some reps from inside. So there's a lot of combinations of things that we're going to experiment with once we get into OTAs and training camp. But the depth is there and it's a group that we can really, I think create some good competition with."