Jacksonville Jaguars: Will Sheldon Day be a 2016 force in specialized role?
Perhaps no team had a better 2016 draft haul than the Jacksonville Jaguars, as they beefed up their defense with several players who have the potential to be high-quality NFL starters.
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Blue-chip talents Jalen Ramsey and Myles Jack were the Jacksonville Jaguars two biggest additions on draft day, but defensive linemen Sheldon Day and Yannick Ngakoue deserve plenty of praise as likely steals.
Ngakoue may need some time before he is ready to make an impact as an edge rusher, and he is overshadowed by 2015 first-round pick Dante Fowler Jr., who is ready to make his NFL debut in the 2016 season.
The Jaguars are not short on talent in the defensive backfield after adding Tashaun Gipson, Prince Amukamara, and Ramsey this offseason, but the strength of Gus Bradley’s unit lies in a defensive line that has a chance to be one of the league’s most formidable four-man fronts.
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Their ability to reach this potential largely depends on Fowler’s inaugural season, but they have their fair share of “safe” veterans up front. Free agent signing Malik Jackson received $42 million guaranteed for a reason, Sen’Derrick Marks has been a top defensive tackle for a few years now, Jared Odrick does a nice job of doing the dirty work, and Ryan Davis is one of the most underrated defensive line specialists in the league.
In the fourth round of the 2016 draft, the Jaguars selected defensive tackle Sheldon Day out of Notre Dame, and I can’t help but wonder if he could join Davis as another efficient rotational pass rusher on a line that boasts an envious amount of depth.
There’s just no way to reasonably expect Day to play an every-down role as a rookie, and I doubt he ever becomes an every-down player in this league. That’s not a knock on him, but rather a statement about his playing style. Day tries his hardest when he’s on the field, but at 6’1″, 293 pounds he’s built to be a sub-package pass rusher.
The Jaguars put an emphasis on adding players who can get after the quarterback, and Day is definitely explosive enough to be a threat as an interior pass rusher. In fact, because his first-step is so quick, he should be able to give offenses headaches as a rookie. On third downs, the Jaguars can put him in the game and watch him go to work, perhaps with Marks and Davis working with him.
Last season, Jacksonville was outside of the top 20 in sacks as a defense, and they allowed the fourth-most passing yards as a whole. Restocking their pass rush and revamping their secondary were necessary offseason moves, as this team has its eyes set on a playoff appearance in 2016 with the likes of Blake Bortles, Allen Robinson, and Allen Hurns on offense.
Who knows? Maybe players like Jack, Ramsey, and Day will become household names on a defense that already boasts Jackson, Marks, Gipson, and Telvin Smith.
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Day isn’t the first or second-biggest rookie addition to the Jaguars defense, but a strong interior pass rusher is always an X-Factor. Again, the Jaguars aren’t hurting for talent on defense, and both Marks and Jackson are perfectly capable of putting up a copious amount of pressure up the middle. However, Day looks like a different beast as far as pure explosiveness goes, so he can a real force with his snaps managed in a limited role on this deep defensive line.