4 Jaguars to Watch in Week 7 Vs. the Chargers
Each week this season, I’ll be highlighting a few specific Jacksonville Jaguars players that I’ll be keeping my eye on based on how they’ve played so far and how I expect them to play in the future.
With the Jaguars (1-5) coming off yet another loss after Sunday's game against the Detroit Lions, there are several players worth tracking over the course of the week. Here is who I’ll be watching for in Week 7 against the Los Angeles Chargers.
WR Keelan Cole
The Jacksonville Jaguars have been baren of offensive production this season- the team currently ranks bottom-10 in points scored, yards per play and offensive Pro Football Focus grade. The majority of its points have come in garbage time, as the Jaguars rank above only the New York Jets in average time of possession when trailing this season (per Football Outsiders) and a remarkable 86.4% (108 of 125) of Jacksonville’s points scored this season came when the team was trailing.
D.J. Chark has played well at times (two touchdowns in Week 4) but has been hampered by chest and ankle injuries at times; rookie Laviska Shenault looks great when he gets the ball in his hands, but needs touches manufactured for him at this point in his young career; Dede Westbrook has played just 4% of offensive snaps this year; and veterans Chris Conley and Tyler Eifert each have a sub-70.0 passer rating when targeted this season.
One bright spot for Jacksonville’s offense is fourth-year Keelan Cole, who leads the Jaguars in every major receiving statistic, including passer rating when targeted. Cole had his most productive game of the season against the Detroit Lions last week, as he hauled in six receptions on nine targets for 143 yards (the second-most of his career).
There’s plenty of excuses for Jacksonville’s offense struggles, but inconsistency from its receiving unit is definitely one reason. Any help for Gardner Minshew is surely appreciated- hopefully Cole can continue his strong season, although he’ll have a tough matchup this week against Los Angeles Chargers slot cornerback Desmond King II.
OL Ben Bartch
Starting right guard A.J. Cann exited Sunday’s game with a shoulder injury, and fourth-round rookie Ben Bartch took his place in his first action of the season. Bartch finished the game with just a 48.3 PFF grade, which was better only than Cann’s 45.5 grade among Jaguars offensive linemen in Week 6.
Bartch didn’t give up a sack but did permit a team-high three pressures on 45 pass blocking snaps. His three pressures allowed and 29.8 pass-blocking grade both ranked bottom-10 among 62 eligible guards last week.
One game is in no way enough to write off a player, especially a raw Division-III product like Bartch. But he will need to step up his game if Cann misses time, as Minshew has taken the fourth-most sacks in the league this season and the Jaguars rank 30th in PFF pass-blocking grade. Frankly, Bartch is unlikely to be an impact player at this point, but it will be encouraging if he improves in what would be his second career NFL game and show flashes of why Jacksonville coveted him in the draft last April.
FS Jarrod Wilson
Since Justin Herbert became the Charger’s starter in Week 2, Los Angeles ranks 15th with a 9% explosive pass rate (plays gaining 15-plus yards, per Sharp Football Stats). Herbert also ranks tied for first in 50-plus yard pass plays and third in longest completed pass in terms of air yards traveled (62.0, per Next Gen Stats).
In the three games that Wilson has played, Jacksonville has allowed an 11% rate of explosive pass rate, fifth-worst in the league. In the three games that Wilson has missed, that rate dropped to 8% (15th-best).
Jacksonville’s splits of explosive pass plays allowed with/without Wilson doesn’t tell the whole story, however. Wilson is actually PFF’s third-highest graded safety in coverage, as only three passes all season have gone in his direction.
Wilson will need to prove that his grade is no fluke against the strong-armed Herbert. Jacksonville’s conservative Cover 3 defensive scheme should be able to limit the big plays by Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, Jalen Guyton and co., but one big play is enough to break the game open and force Jacksonville’s offense into yet another heavy negative game script or game plan- which clearly hasn’t worked so far.
DE K’Lavon Chaisson
It’s been a long week for rookie edge rusher K’Lavon Chaisson, who had perhaps the worst game of his young career against Detroit. Chaisson played a season-high 55 defensive snaps but didn’t register a tackle or a sack (he had two quarterback pressures). His first quarter defensive offsides penalty negated a Jabaal Sheard sack, which would have been just Jacksonville’s sixth sack of the season through six games.
Chaisson’s 33.5 PFF grade against Detroit was easily his lowest of the season. Only fellow rookie defensive lineman Davon Hamilton had a worse Week 6 PFF grade (27.1) among all Jaguars players.
Chaisson is still a raw, young player and his future certainly shouldn’t be judged based on the first six games of his career. But with that being said, it’s also discouraging to see a first-round selection struggle so mightily against a Lions team that ranks a middling 15th in ESPN’s team pass block win rate metric. Hopefully, Chaisson can turn things around starting this week against the Chargers, which rank 28th in pass block win rate.
