Jacksonville Jaguars: Comeback year for Paul Posluszny

With all the praise the Jacksonville Jaguars have been receiving this offseason for their acquisitions. Few forget about the acquisition of returning middle linebacker Paul Posluszny, who missed most of 2014 to injury.

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Posluszny played in and started seven games for the Jaguars before tearing his pectoral muscle in a Week 7 win over the Cleveland Browns. At the time, Posluszny was the leader of that defense and registered 69 tackles and two sacks during those seven games.

Before the injury, Kevin Connaghan of Pro Football Focus said, “Posluszny was the heart of the Jaguars run defense, with a 10.8 Run Stop Percentage, fifth-best among ILBs, and a 13.2 Tackling Efficiency.”

The absence of Posluszny was felt for the remaining nine games for the Jags. Posluszny was reposonsible for making the defensive calls and once he went down, the Jags didn’t quite have the depth to replace Posluszny’s experience and leadership.

Missing the rest of the season was tough for Posluszny. “This was the most difficult thing I’ve had to deal with in a long time in my NFL career,” Posluszny said to John Oesher of Jaguars.com. “Being a team captain, then coming up short on my end, not being able to play, not being able to be with the guys … it makes you realize how much you love football when you can’t do it.

“You feel like you’re not doing your part to help the team and win. That wears on you.”

If you want to look at a positive to Posluszny’s injury, it helped thrust rookie linebacker Telvin Smith into a more prominent role his rookie year. Now, Telvin Smith heads into 2015 with breakout potential.

Oesher said, “Posluszny will get another chance at the game he loves this season, and he’ll get a chance to do it with a team – and for a coach and a general manager – he believes in strongly. He’ll also get a chance to do it with a team that, as he says, Posluszny says has the greatest team atmosphere he’s ever been a part of.”

“Poz” as his teammates call him, made his first Pro-Bowl in 2013. Posluszny finished the 2013 season with 122 tackles, three sacks, a forced fumble, and fumble recovered. In addition, Posluszny recorded two interceptions and returned one for a touchdown, which was against Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos.

Prior to the draft, Posluszny signed a contract with the Jaguars through 2017. Posluszny has 653 tackles, nine sacks, four forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries in 55 career games with the Jaguars. He ranks fifth on the franchise’s all-time tackle list. Prior to Jacksonville, Posluszny was drafted and spent the first four years of his career with Buffalo. In 99 games in his career, Posluszny has 1,063 tackles, 12 sacks, and eight forced fumbles (via Mike DiRocco).

The Jaguars brought in free-agent linebacker Dan Skuta over from San Francisco this offseason. Skuta played two seasons for the 49ers and recorded 25 tackles and five sacks last season. Skuta is penciled in to play the OTTO linebacker position for the Jags. Posluszny, Skuta, and Telvin Smith will give the Jaguars a formidable linebacker group. However, if one of the three were to go down, depth would again be a big concern.

Poz will look to reassert himself this season as a leader on defense for the Jags. The Jaguars have high expectations heading into 2015 and if they want to meet those then Posluszny will need to have a comeback year and replicate his 2013 season. If Posluszny can elevate his game in 2015, then he could be the teams comeback player of the year.

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