Column: Jaguars Should Quickly Sign Jabaal Sheard to Attempt to Salvage Pass Rush
In the NFL, there aren't many things more important than a short memory. Whether it is quickly moving on from a bad loss the week before or realizing that holding onto the past is harming the current process of teambuilding, it is more important to move on in the NFL than it is to stay in place.
For the Jacksonville Jaguars and the team's struggling defense, this has never been more important than now.
At the start of the Doug Marrone era in 2017, the Jaguars were built to disrupt opposing passing games. They had four Pro Bowlers on the defensive line with Marcell Dareus, Calais Campbell, Yannick Ngakoue and Malik Jackson, while Dante Fowler was a former first-round pick. In the back-end, the Jaguars had speedy linebackers and All-Pro cornerbacks in Jalen Ramsey and A.J. Bouye.
But every one of those players, sans linebacker Myles Jack, is gone. And as a result, so is the formerly strong pass defense the Jaguars used to trot out. Sacksonville left Northeast Florida with Campbell and Ngakoue and through four games it is clear it has found permanent residence elsewhere.
Through four games in 2020, the Jaguars' defense has just four sacks. Two of those have come from Josh Allen on less than dominant reps, while one came from Jack on a questionable play with Jacoby Brissett in Week 1. The Jaguars are tied for the second-fewest amount of sacks and have a middling pressure per dropback rate of 23.2% according to Pro Football Reference.
There might not be any answer for the so far woeful pass rush. At least not in 2020. But the Jaguars still need to exhaust all options, and the top of those options should be veteran free agent Jabaal Sheard.
Sheard worked out for the Jaguars on Tuesday, so the team clearly has the 10th-year veteran on their radar. Typically it is hard to find a serviceable pass rusher on the free agent market in October, but Sheard is an exception. Whether it is due to his age, lack of major production, or the complications around bringing in new players in 2020, Sheard has been waiting for a new team. The Jaguars should be that team.
Jacksonville has so far relied on young first-round defensive ends Josh Allen and K'Lavon Chaisson to provide their pass rush, but the duo hasn't made a big difference for a woeful pass defense. Allen has faced more double teams this season, while Chaisson has looked overmatched at times. He had over 20 pass rush reps vs. the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 4 but recorded zero pressures, for example.
The Jaguars simply need an extra edge option to provide a boost while Chaisson adapts to the NFL. He is clearly somewhat of a project so a plug-and-play pass rusher like Sheard makes perfect sense for the Jaguars in the short term.
Sheard never put up astronomical numbers, but he has averaged over five sacks a season in his career. He has only had one season with fewer than 4.5 sacks and only two seasons with fewer than 5. Even without playing a ton of snaps in recent years, he has had mildly impressive production.
During his nine-year career thus far, Sheard has accumulated 417 tackles (average 46.4 a year), 51.5 sacks (5.7 a year) and 13 forced fumbles (1.4 a year). The former second-round pick may not be the caliber of pass-rusher the Jaguars have had in the past, but he may be exactly what the Jaguars need today to boost their pass rush.
There aren't many answers for the Jaguars and their disappointing pass rush today. The Jaguars made the risky move to rely on Allen and Chaisson while Campbell and Ngakoue left via trades and so far it has not paid off. It remains to be seen if Sheard can get the Jaguars to where they need to be, but he can almost assuredly improve what they are putting on the field today.
Sheard wouldn't change the Jaguars' defense in a dramatic fashion but they need to look for answers to the pass rush issues. Sheard could be one of those answers. In fact, he could be the best one that is possibly available.
