2022 NFL Free Agency: Akiem Hicks and 4 Other DL Who Make Sense For the Jaguars

Free agency is nearly upon us. On March 14, the two-day legal tampering window will begin before the new league year begins and players across the entire NFL will find new homes.

After an unpredictable free agency period last offseason in which the Jaguars didn't target many of the top free agents they were projected to, there is no telling if this year will be different. The operative word in last year's free agency cycle, led by then-head coach Urban Meyer and general manager Trent Baalke, was "value".

Will this again be the case with Baalke back at the helm, this time joined by new head coach Doug Pederson?

"Are we going to go out and add talent? Yeah, we're going to add talent. We're going to add competition. We're going to bring value to the roster. Every team does that, and we're no exception to that," Pederson said last month when he introduced his coaching staff.

"But I see talent here. I said I think in my opening remarks a couple weeks ago that it's not an overnight fix, and it's going to be a fix that we've got to do it one player at a time, one coach at a time, and get it turned around."

In an effort to identify which free agents make the most sense to potentially be those players Pederson referenced, we are going to go through each position group to determine who the best fits are, ranking them in order.

Next up, the defensive tackle position.

1) Akiem Hicks

The top interior defensive lineman on the market, Akiem Hicks is also the best three-technique candidate in all of free-agency. The Jaguars have enough nose tackle types already on the roster, but they are still in need of upfield penetrators who can disrupt offensive lines and make plays behind the line of scrimmage. That is where Hicks would come in.

While Hicks is getting long in the tooth (turns 33 in November, already has 10 seasons under his belt), he is still an immensely productive player when healthy. When playing in 15 games in 2020, Hicks recorded 3.5 sacks, seven tackles for loss and a career-high 21 quarterback hits. He played in just nine games last year and five games in 2019, but he still has a lot to offer to a defense when at the top of his game.

2) B.J. Hill

A third-round pick in 2018, B.J. Hill has proven to be a dependable and consistent starter in the middle of a defensive line. He has plenty of experience as a three-technique, both in a rotation and as a starter, and would give the Jaguars a high-floor run defender who still has some pass-rush potential.

The issue with signing Hill is that he is still a bit of a projection after starting just seven games since his rookie season, but he was still able to add on 5.5 sacks, six tackles for loss and a career-high 12 quarterback hits last season. Hill looks like an ascending player who at the very least will upgrade the run defense.

3) D.J. Jones

The Jaguars don't need more nose tackles, but D.J. Jones is a different type of player. He has the frame and play-style of a nose tackle while offering the explosion and upfield disruption of a three-technique, meaning he is a player the Jaguars could likely move between the two spots and find reasonable success. And in the event he isn't cutting it at three-technique, you still have a high-quality and athletic nose tackle to add to the rotation.

Jones has just seven sacks and eight quarterback hits over the last three seasons so he is more of a run defender than pass-rusher, but he would still greatly upgrade the middle of the Jaguars' defensive front and give them an athletic body who can be a playmaker. The 49ers' defense would clearly badly miss Jones, which is as high praise as you can give a nose tackle.

4) Maliek Collins

A career three-technique, Maliek Collins has put in serviceable seasons with the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans and makes sense for a team who wants some guaranteed production at the position. Collins is a high-floor, low-ceiling player, but teams will at least know what they will be getting from him. The Jaguars saw Collins up close in 2021, too.

Collins isn't someone who would change the identity of the defense (2.5 sacks, seven quarterback hits, nine tackles for loss in 2021), but he would still be a cheap upgrade over Taven Bryan and give the Jaguars a defender they can count on for a few splash plays a year.

5) Bilal Nichols

The Jaguars signed a similar player last year in Roy Robertson-Harris, with the pair even coming from the same defense. But it is for those reasons that Bilal Nichols makes sense for a Jaguars team that needs depth with Robertson-Harris after the failed development of Taven Bryan. Nichols is mostly a role player but he is a plus-athlete who perhaps could find more production in a larger role.

A former fifth-round pick, Nichols has recorded eight sacks, 12 tackles for loss and 22 quarterback hits over the last two seasons while playing in a number of different roles for the Bears. He is a similar role of the dice that Robertson-Harris was last season, but he makes sense for a team like the Jaguars who needs more athletes who can rush the passer.