Which Players Have Benefitted the Most From the Jaguars' Moves During the Free Agency Period?
The bulk of this year's free agency period has come and gone, with the vast majority of major moves already being made by the Jacksonville Jaguars and the other 31 clubs.
As is tradition, free agency has changed the landscape of the entire league and altered the direction for countless players on each team. From players who have had their spots secured due to inaction on the market, to players who have earned new roles thanks to any trades or signings, there are numerous examples of players who have benefitted from their team's moves during the free agency period.
This includes those on the Jaguars' roster, with a number of players' positions becoming either safer or more solidified due to the moves Jacksonville did or didn't make.
Which Jaguars have benefitted the most from the Jaguars' trades or signings? We examined a few whose spots in 2020 have become more clear as a result of Jacksonville's activity in the past week.
QB Gardner Minshew II
Second-year quarterback Gardner Minshew II is the clearest winner from the Jaguars moves this week. By trading Nick Foles to the Chicago Bears in exchange for a 2020 fourth-round draft pick, the door has been swung wide open for Minshew to start in Week 1 in 2020. Minshew was always the leading candidate to start for the Jaguars next year despite their public assurances of a quarterback competition, but the Foles trade means Minshew and the Jaguars' coaching staff can focus solely on preparing Minshew for the full-time starting role.
Instead of having to split reps with Foles for however many weeks, Minshew can now enter training camp as the unquestioned No. 1 quarterback, giving him the chance to take as many reps as possible with the starting offense.
LB Myles Jack
By signing middle linebacker Joe Schobert to a five-year, $53.75 million deal with $22 million guaranteed, the Jaguars made it abundantly clear that they wanted to upgrade the linebacking unit. By adding Schobert to the middle of the defense, fifth-year linebacker Myles Jack will be moved to outside linebacker, which head coach Doug Marrone said he feels is a more natural position for the 2016 second-round pick. By moving outside, Jack will likely have significantly less on his plate in terms of gameday responsibilities, which could theoretically free him up to make more plays.
Jack is regarded by many in the locker room as one of the team's smartest players, and his last two years of wearing the green dot and lining up the defense while relaying defensive coordinator Todd Wash's calls have shown the team's trust in him in this regard. But, as Marrone said at the combine, a different position would allow Jack to not have to preoccupy himself with worrying about the other 10 players on the defense, and can instead now fly to the ball and make plays.
TE Josh Oliver
As it stands today, the Jaguars only have four tight ends on their roster between Josh Oliver, James O'Shaughnessy, Charles Jones, and Matt Sokol. So far, the Jaguars have decided to sit out of the tight end sweepstakes and avoid acquiring players like Austin Hooper, Eric Ebron, Jimmy Graham, and Hayden Hurst, meaning the Jaguars' current tight ends are in good positions to play roles in new offensive coordinator Jay Gruden's offense.
Because of the fact that O'Shaughnessy is recovering from an ACL injury that ended his season in Week 5 last year, Oliver is the only current healthy tight end on the roster who caught more than one pass last season ... and he only caught three. With that said, Oliver has benefitted greatly from the Jaguars' inaction at tight end because he has a clear path to the No. 1 tight end role, with little other possibilities to challenge him.
DT Abry Jones
Much like Oliver, veteran nose tackle Abry Jones has so far seen the Jaguars add nobody to challenge him for a starting role. This could of course change due to the NFL Draft in April, but so far the Jaguars have yet to add another nose tackle to the defense following Marcell Dareus leaving the roster due to Jacksonville declining his 2020 team option.
Jacksonville signed Arizona Cardinals defensive lineman Rodney Gunter, but Gunter's time as a 3-4 defensive end in Arizona suggests the Jaguars could use him at the 'big end' spot in the base defense. Gutner could potentially see time on the interior defensive line during run downs as part of a rotation, but it is much more likely that he is a Calais Campbell replacement rather than a replacement for Dareus, which bodes well for Jones' chances to have a sizeable role on the defense in 2020.
CB D.J. Hayden
When it was first reported that the Jaguars signed veteran cornerback Darqueze Dennard, it was presumed by many that this could potentially have a large impact on D.J. Hayden. Hayden has been the team's starting nickel cornerback for the last two seasons, but Dennard has historically been utilized more as a slot cornerback than an outside cornerback.
But instead of Dennard being a possible Hayden replacement, he will instead compete for a starting job on the outside, solidifying Hayden's spot in the defense. Hayden was terrific for the Jaguars in 2019 but dealt with injuries, and his age and cap number made some wonder if he was a lock to be on the roster in 2020. After Marrone stated Dennard would play on the outside, Hayden has become more than a lock to be on the roster; he has become a lock to be the starting nickel cornerback once again.
