Jacksonville Jaguars: Dante Fowler might be a first round bust
By Larry Brake
Dante Fowler must perform well this season with the Jacksonville Jaguars in order to prove his worth and not being a first round bust.
The Jacksonville Jaguars selected Dante Fowler in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft. In fact, he was the third overall selection after Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota. Has Fowler proved Jacksonville correct by selecting him so high, or is he a bust?
Remember what happened on his first day of rookie mini-camp? Fowler missed the 2015 season due to an ACL injury. As a result, the Jaguars signed him to his initial rookie contract as a sign of good faith.
In the following draft, Jacksonville selected Yannick Ngakoue in the third round. Both Fowler and Ngakoue battled for the starting position at defensive end. Ngakoue started 15 of 16 games. In 2016, Fowler had four sacks and was in on 32 tackles. Like Ngakoue, Fowler was basically in his rookie season. Just before the 2017 season, Fowler found himself in trouble.
Consequently, there were reports of multiple citations, via news4jax.com. Fowler has remorse concerning his previous actions. He is quoted by NFL.com:
"“I just wanted to let people know and everybody know that’s not me as a person, I’m a better person than that and it won’t happen again,” Fowler said … “Like I told [executive vice president] Tom [Coughlin], ‘I’m very sorry.’ I told him that I apologize …”"
So how did the tumultuous offseason affect the 2017 season? Fowler doubled his sack production from four to eight sacks. He then had two sacks in the playoffs.
Recently, the Jaguars declined to pick up his contract option for 2019. He will be free to test the free agent market. Is it unthinkable for the Jaguars to possibly let Fowler walk away, especially after drafting him as the third overall pick?
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Ngakoue has clearly outperformed Fowler on the field. Let’s hope that a fire has been lit inside Fowler to prove his worth. If not, chalk him up as, yet another first round bust for the Jacksonville Jaguars.