The Jacksonville Jaguars had a busy offseason and added several new players through free agency, the draft, and undrafted free agency. When looking at the number of additions made, it’s clear the roster is going to be shaken up when comparing it to last season’s group.
Of course, with Trevor Lawrence being the team’s most important player, the starting lineup on offense around him will be what’s on most people’s minds. However, there are some potential changes in the defensive lineup that are worth watching, too.
NFL Network’s Gregg Rosenthal believes the cornerback position is worth watching for the Jags as they recently signed Darious Williams from the Los Angeles Rams. For that reason, he was left wondering if 2021 second-round pick Tyson Campbell would be starting again as Williams signed a noteworthy contract for three years worth $30 million.
Here is Rosenthal’s full roster projection for the Jags, in addition to his thoughts on the cornerback spot.
| OFFENSE | PLAYER | DEFENSE | PLAYER |
|---|---|---|---|
| QB | Trevor Lawrence | DE | Roy Robertson-Harris |
| RB | James Robinson | DT | Foley Fatukasi |
| WR | Christian Kirk | OLB | Josh Allen |
| WR | Marvin Jones | LB | Foye Oluokun |
| WR | Zay Jones | LB | Devin Lloyd |
| TE | Evan Engram | OLB | Travon Walker |
| LT | Cam Robinson | CB | Shaquill Griffin |
| LG | Ben Bartch | CB | Darious Williams |
| C | Tyler Shatley | CB | Tyson Campbell |
| RG | Brandon Scherff | S | Rayshawn Jenkins |
| RT | Walker Little | S | Andre Cisco |
Last year in this space I wondered if the Jaguars had three outside corners and no obvious option at nickel. The same is true this year. After handing out big money to Darious Williams, is Tyson Campbell guaranteed to start? Safety and nickel back are two of the only open competitions on the roster.
Campbell struggled a bit early in 2021 when he was placed into the starting lineup, but he came on strong after the bye week and looked like the best cornerback on the team. When looking around the league at the rest of the rookie corners, Campbell also ranked second in interceptions and incompletions caused (11).
When factoring this in with the fact that he was drafted too high to play the nickel position and the fact that he looked better on the perimeter than at nickel, it feels like Campbell’s chances to start are high. That will put the Jags in a scenario where Williams is likely the starting nickel with the possibility to kick to the outside as the Jags get closer to the end of Shaquill Griffin’s contract.
Aside from that, there isn’t much to disagree with when looking at the chart above made by Rosenthal aside from a few things. One of them is the starting center position where he has Tyler Shatley starting over third-round rookie Luke Fortner. He could be right, but at the same time, Trent Baalke isn’t in a position to let his top draft picks sit on the bench after two seasons where the Jags had the worst record in the NFL.
However, Shatley does have a ton of experience and has started 33 games, which is hard to overlook. That said, if he ends up earning the role in training camp, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Fortner competing for the left guard spot instead.
Another thing that’s in question is the starting running back role. James Robinson undoubtedly should be the RB1 when looking at his body of work, but he’s not expected to return to the field until training camp from the Achilles injury he sustained last December. With first-round rookie Travis Etienne being cleared from his Lisfranc injury recently, he will have a head start on Robinson, which is something to consider when looking at the competition at the position.
