Jacksonville Jaguars select K’Lavon Chaisson in 2020 NFL Draft: Grading the pick

The Jacksonville Jaguars selected LSU edge rusher K’Lavon Chaisson with the No. 20 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. Grading the pick

2019 was a disappointing season after they signed Nick Foles in hopes that he could take the Jacksonville Jaguars to the next level. That didn’t happen, but Minshew Mania was born. The 2020 NFL Draft gave them the opportunity to push forward by helping Gardner Minshew. Jaguars general manager David Caldwell drafted LSU edge rusher K’Lavon Chaisson with the No. 20 pick.

Taking an edge rusher may come as a surprise from some, especially after the team drafted Josh Allen in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft. However, with the team looking to move on from Yannick Ngakoue, finding a successor was necessary.

The 2020 draft didn’t have depth at edge and the top two pass rushers were Chase Young and Chaisson by a mile.

Chaisson is an elite athlete with a good burst off the edge. He has excellent flexibility to dip underneath tackles. Once he’s past his man, he has the speed to close in a hurry. He can make plays in the backfield in the run game as well.

If the Jags need him to drop in coverage, he can do that as well. He can play outside linebacker in a role that once belonged to Telvin Smith. It’s clear he’s not coming back. Best case scenario for the Jags, they can convince Ngakoue to stay and use Chaisson as an outside backer.

In the end, the Jaguars didn’t do right by their quarterback by getting him a lineman or weapon on the outside. Many also thought they could use help along the interior defensive line help. However, they decided to solidify their edge with Chaisson instead.

One can argue that a team can never have too many pass rushers, but this isn’t one of those cases. Chaisson was a solid prospect and fits they Jaguars scheme but he wasn’t the best player on the board.