Jacksonville Jaguars 53 Man Roster - Defense
JT: It’s unbelievably difficult to make this years cutdown
Folks, we are a day away from our finalized (sort of, but not really) 2023 Jacksonville Jaguars 53 man roster. Pug Dederson and Mr. Masterclass himself, Trent Baalke have put together one of the best 90 man rosters in the history of the First Coast. Their collective football genius is making for some extremely difficult decisions in Jacksonville. We here at JaguarsTalk have already given you our offensive breakdown and below we will grace you with our brilliant decisive defensive decisions. The only problem is that they will not be decisive because I am already wavering (in my head) on a few key positions. So if they are not decisive then they technically can’t be a decision, but the one thing they definitely are is defensive. So pop some corn, sit back, relax and enjoy the ride. Not for nothing, but as I type this column I’m still wavering. Let’s hope I know what I’m doing by the time I get to those specific positions below.
D-Line - Folurunson Fatukasi, DaVon Hamilton, and RRH. These three are solid starters, albeit with a an injury to our immense nose tackle. So who would back him up if he isn’t ready to go? Raymond Vohasek, out of Chapel Hill, is listed next on the depth chart. Filling out the rest of the Jaguars defensive line rotation will be Dawuane Smoot, Adam Gotsis, and Tyler Lacy (4 tackles against Miami). Michael Dogby is listed third on the depth chart below Fatukasi, sitting in the fourth spot however is none other than the terror of Jacksonville’s pre-season Jeremiah Ledbetter. The Arkansas DE had 6 solo tackles, 2 sacks and a forced fumble this preseason, earning himself a coveted roster spot in JAX.
Linebackers - Josh Allen, Devin Lloyd, Oluokun the tackling god, and Travon Walker, these four are a given. Josh Allen may not accrue the number of sacks that everyone here is looking for, but he is a beast at containing the rush. I watched him turn the runner inside on multiple occasions during this pre-season. He may not be the one getting to the quarterback but he is the one allowing others to make the tackle. Here, my friends, is where things get difficult. A bit of a sticky wicket, if you will. K’Lavon Chaisson is a backer that people seem to love to hate, yet he seems to always remain in a JAX uni. Whether that be because he can play well in all facets of the special teams, who knows. He might not overly excel at linebacker, at least not to the expectation of some or even of his draft spot, but he can hold his own in an emergency. The sticky wicket part of this situation is that Chaisson never saw the field this past Saturday against Miami. Why is this odd? Because usually teams won’t play the guys they are trying to move before a cutdown. Better to get a late rounder if possible, than to just give someone away. My best guess is that JAX hopes for a deal for K’Lavon and if one doesn’t magically appear, then he gets himself a roster sport with the Jaguars yet again. Ain’t nobody gonna trade for my man. K’Lavon Chaisson gets rostered.
Another unique happen stance has arisen in the Jags front seven. Ventrell Miller, a Gator from Gainesville, is a very good athlete and at 6’, 220 lbs he’s a formidable linebacker with 8 solos this pre-season. As of a few hours ago coach Doug Pederson announced that Miller suffered an achilles injury and will miss the entire 2023 season. This is what I was going to say should happen, if I were quicker at writing and posting these columns. Shaq Quarterman is no Ventrell Miller, but he is better than an injured Ventrell Miller. Miller on the IR allows him to learn and grow for a year and that will benefit Jacksonville greatly in 2024. Chad Muma is a shoe-in for a roster spot switching off with the much improved Devin Lloyd. Lastly, Louisville rookie Yasir Abdullah deserves to be rostered here in JAX as well. He performed better than expected this pre-season with a couple tackles and an impressive interception. He’s not a guy we want to give up and sending him to the practice squad will allow poachers to steal him away. Jordan Smith is another linebacker that has me a bit perplexed. I’m going to keep him off the roster because I believe Dougie P. has his sights set on plucking a pass rusher from another team’s discards later in the week, and he needs the open roster spot.
DBs - The only troubles that concern me with the secondary center around Tre Herndon and Gregory Junior. The nickel position has been a crutch for Jacksonville, and I believe they will lean on Tre Herndon, but with a very short leash. Herndon has the experience in the NFL and the Jags system, but Junior has been outstanding this pre-season. Junior had 5 solos, a forced fumble, an interception, and a pass defensed. Gregory Junior is a magnet and the football is made of a ferromagnetic material. That is to say, it loves him…a lot. We think Tre Herndon picks up the torch, but soon hands it to Gregory Junior to carry. In addition, the typical suspects will receive roster spots Tyson Campbell, Rayshawn Jenkins, Andre Cisco, Darious Williams, and Dewey Wingard. Montaric Brown played well enough to earn a spot in the secondary with four solos and a pass defensed. Usually teams roster ten defensive backs so we have two more to play with here. Daniel Thomas takes a remaining spot and we truly believe Erick Hallett, rookie from Pitt, has earned himself the final DB roster spot for the 2023 Jacksonville Jaguars. Hallett was impressive with seven solos and an interception.
Special Teams - JAX 53 man roster will be rounded out by the greatest punter to ever grace the grid-iron, Logan Cooke. Newly acquired Brandon McManus will keep kicking through the uprights while Ross Matiscik gets healthy enough to snap the damn ball.
Unfortunately, no matter how reasoned the above column, JaguarsTalk has decided to roster 29 defensive and special teams players. Couple that with the 28 offensive players that we rostered two columns ago and that equals 57 rostered Jaguars players. It seems we are four players over our allotted amount. Well crap. Who do we eliminate? We’re going to start with the offense, more specifically the wide receiver group. Unfortunately, Kevin Austin Jr. and Elijah Cooks will be relegated to the practice squad, where we believe Cooks will be dressed in Detroit Lions colors by the end of the week. Blake Hance, back-up left guard is another that will have to be left on the cutting room floor. That leaves us with the final cut to reach 53. The award for the opposite of Mr. Irrelevant goes to, drum roll please… JaMycal Hasty. I hate to drop a guy who has and can produce but the Jaguars are flush at running back and frankly don’t need to roster four of them, especially if they put Snoop Conner on the practice squad to pull up if (and hopefully will never be) needed.
Holy crap, I completely forgot about Tyler Shatley. You go on blood thinners and you’re evidently dead to me. We obviously are keeping 54 this year, or we just need to drop O-lineman Williams? This is why he is Trent Baalke and I am not.
So, there you go. The final 53. Where did I go wrong? But more importantly, where did I go right? Let us know what you think in the comment section below.