Countdown to Jaguars Football: The Most Notable Players to Wear No. 66
In fewer than 100 days, Jacksonville Jaguars will return ... at least as things stand today.
While there is still some uncertainty surrounding the start of the NFL season, the league office has made it clear that they are planning to kick the season off on Sept. 10 and then have every other team play on Sept. 13.
By going off that timeline, we are now just 66 days from watching the Jaguars take the field against the Indianapolis Colts for the first regular season game of 2020.
In an effort to countdown to the start of the season, we will now be going from 95 through 1 to determine the best players to don the teal, black, and white for the Jaguars at each specific number.
So when considering each player has worn the No. 66 since Jacksonville's first season in 1995, who has been the most impactful? Since the team's inception, here are the players who have worn the jersey number:
- Jacques McClendon: 2013-14
- Steve Vallos: 2012
- Justin Smiley: 2010
- Derek Landri: 2007-09
- Brett Romberg: 2003-05
- John Wade: 1998-2002
- Greg Huntington: 1996-97
- Shawn Bouwens: 1995
Most of these players had shorter tenures with the Jaguars, but a few of them still made contributions to the team that are worth reflecting upon. Since there are very few standouts, however, instead of ranking the players, we will talk about the most notable ones instead.
The first player to examine is former defensive tackle Derek Landri, who spent three seasons with the team and was a key contributor during their 2007 playoff run under head coach Jack Del Rio.
Jacksonville drafted Landri out of Notre Dame in the fifth-round (No. 166 overall) in the 2007 NFL Draft and he quickly introduced himself into the team's defensive tackle rotation. While Landri never started a game for the Jaguars, he was still a key depth player on one of the team's most important units, a unit in which was a driving force behind Jacksonville's success in 2007.
In three seasons, Landri appeared in 35 games and recorded 39 tackles, three sacks, nine tackles for loss and 10 quarterback hits. He spent just three years with the Jaguars, but he was a notable presence during his tenure.
Another notable Jaguar to wear No. 66 was former center John Wade, one of the team's best late-round draft picks during the team's infancy stage. The Jaguars originally acquired Wade in the fifth-round (No. 148 overall) in the 1998 NFL Draft, and he went on to become one of the team's most important offensive linemen thanks to his reliability.
In five years in Jacksonville, Wade appeared in 54 games and started 34, and his most notable season came in 1999 on arguably the best Jaguars team of all-time, a 14-2 squad which won the AFC Central and only lost games to the Tennessee Titans that season.
In 1999, Wade started all 16 regular season games, including two playoff games that followed two playoff starts he made in 1998. Wade would not start 16 games again until his final season with the team in 2002, but he was a key figure of perhaps the best team the Jaguars have ever fielded, earning him recognition.
Other notable players to wear No. 66 with the Jaguars include offensive lineman Greg Huntington, who appeared in six games for the Jaguars in the franchise's first two seasons, and Jacques McClendon , who started five games at guard during Gus Bradley's first two seasons as Jacksonville's head coach.
