Jaguars Overjoyed With Potential of Newest Defender K'Lavon Chaisson
The last two times the Jacksonville Jaguars rolled the dice on athletic pass-rushing phenoms, it worked out pretty well in their favor. Now, they are hoping history will repeat itself in LSU edge rusher K'Lavon Chaisson.
Chaisson doesn't have the college production of either Yannick Ngakoue or Josh Allen before him (9.5 career sacks at LSU), but the 6-foot-3, 254-pound defender has the physical tools to match either. He is long, explosive off of the edge, quick in small quarters, and flexible.
Add all that up, and the Jaguars feel comfortable with the player the selected at No. 20 overall to team up with Allen and potentially Ngakoue.
"He’s a tremendous, tremendous team-guy. Six-three, 265 pounds. We feel like he can bring a presence on the edge," general manager Dave Caldwell said Thursday night. "He can set the edge as a very good run defender. You see him against big SEC tackles, locking guys out. We’ll play him probably in a 2-point stance and then he’ll be our rusher opposite of Josh (Allen) and Yannick (Ngakoue) and we’ll go from there."
The notion of Chaisson playing in a two-point stance early on is interesting for a few reasons. Particularly, it suggests the Jaguars may be opting for more 3-4 looks from their front seven, which would fit Chaisson's frame and playstyle, as well as give more flexibility to the entire defense.
"This is a guy that is really multifaceted, and we can play in some 3-4 looks obviously with Josh Allen and him and I think he offers a bunch of versatility on our defense with those two guys and Yannick," Caldwell said.
“The thing about K’Lavon Chaisson that I really love is that he can play that SAM linebacker position in base downs and he can rush the quarterback," head coach Doug Marrone added. "He can rush the quarterback from a 2-point stance, and you could argue whether he’s a better rusher out of a 3-point stance."
While the presence of the athletic and ascending Chaisson could give the Jaguars more options in their front seven alignments early on in his career, it is clear the Jaguars took him largely because of a ceiling he has yet to scratch.
Jacksonville has been hemorrhaging young and developing defensive talent at all three levels of the field for the last two seasons, so bringing in a player like Chaisson who has all of the potential in the world makes sense as long as the Jaguars are convinced they can develop him.
"The one thing that I see is a really good future," Marrone said.
"I see a guy that’s a speed guy. Everyone knows that the best pass rush comes in waves, so we’ve got three guys that can rush the passer now. We have three guys that can play the zone read stuff when they’re trying to really put the pressure on those defensive ends. K’Lavon can play special teams for us, too. There’s so much he can contribute because of his height, weight, speed and what he can do."
What about Chaisson's potential is so enticing to the Jaguars? Outside of his natural athleticism, there is the fact that he played his best football down the stretch for the LSU national championship defense, culminating in him flashing a number of pass-rush techniques that can translate to the next level.
"But make no mistake about it, I look at him and people were talking like, ‘Well you know, sacks are whatever they may be.’ And I’m like, ‘The one thing about this guy right here is that he has speed.’ He has an unbelievable spin move," Marrone said.
"I think the speed [to] power is going to come and become better. I think once that comes, he can be a dominant rusher in this league. The one thing I do think is that, when you watch the film in our league, I think he can get a lot of penalties, meaning he is quick and fast, and he gets on the edge of those guys. We think he’s going to be a really productive player for us.”
Jacksonville was surprised Chaisson was even on the board when they were on the clock. All offseason long, it had been rumored that both the Atlanta Falcons and Dallas Cowboys were enamored with him as a prospect. With each of those teams picking in front of Jacksonville, it didn't look like they had a great chance to land the LSU defender.
But Atlanta surprised many and drafted Clemson cornerback A.J. Terrell, while the Cowboys took a falling CeeDee Lamb. This cleared the path for the Jaguars and Chaisson, and the rest is history.
"We really didn’t think K’Lavon [Chaisson] would be there and then when a couple picks went before, we realized, ‘Hey, we might have a chance to get him.’ That was outstanding," Marrone said.
"I’m excited about that and like I said before, we’re going to have a young team. Everyone knows that. I am excited about that. I think people tend to think you want veteran players and there are a lot of great veteran players that are going to come in that have relationships with players on our team and the players on our team are potential team leaders, I think that is a home run. That is a great thing for us.”
