Observations on the State of the Jaguars' Defense Following 3 Opt Outs
The dynamics of teams throughout the league changed over the last several weeks as players made the tough, but understandable, decisions to opt out of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Included in the opt outs were three members of the Jacksonville Jaguars: defensive tackle Al Woods, defensive end Lerentee McCray and cornerback Rashaan Melvin.
Two of these players, Woods and Melvin, were among the free agents Jacksonville signed to bolster the defense this offseason, while McCray has been a special teams ace and captain for the Jaguars during his tenure.
None of the three players may be bonafide stars, but Woods was meant to be an important part of the team's run defense, while Melvin was the team's lone veteran addition at cornerback and McCray provided edge depth for a team with question marks at the position.
So while the Jaguars starting defense may still look mostly intact, what takeaways can we have from the defensive departures of Woods, McCray and Melvin?
1) Most of all, the Jaguars lost experience with the opt outs
In total, these were three of the most experienced players on not just Jacksonville's defense, but its entire roster. Woods was the oldest player on the team's active roster at 33-years-old, while Melvin is one of just four members of the roster who are presently 30-years-old or older, and that figure includes Woods.
McCray, meanwhile, will be 30 on Aug. 26 and has played in 35 games for the Jaguars over the last three seasons. The Jaguars' staff knows him well since he has been on the roster since 2017, and he is a respected player within the locker room.
As for Woods, he has appeared in 128 games in a career that dates back to 2010. With the Jaguars declining Marcell Dareus' 2020 option this offseason, Woods and Abry Jones were meant to serve as Jacksonville's veteran presences at nose tackle. With Woods gone, the Jaguars' nose tackles are the following: Jones (100 games played), Dontavius Russell (three games played) and rookie third-rounder DaVon Hamilton, who has yet to play in an NFL game.
Finally, the Jaguars' cornerback position was already set to have to rely on Melvin for experience at cornerback considering the team's youth at the position. Jacksonville's cornerback group consists of two third-year cornerbacks in Tre Herndon and Parry Nickerson, rookie draft picks CJ Henderson, Josiah Scott and Chris Claybrooks, and eighth-year veteran D.J. Hayden. Melvin has played in 64 games in his career, more than all of the cornerbacks on Jacksonville's roster other than Hayden (86 games played).
Jacksonville is set to have an extremely young defense this season. This was true before the opt outs, and it is even truer now.
2) It is hard to see the Jaguars signing another edge defender, but McCray will still be missed on special teams
Without McCray, the Jaguars' edge defender position now consists of one rookie, one second-year player, one franchise-tagged player who hasn't reported to training camp yet and two rotational defenders in Cassius Marsh (14 sacks) and Aaron Lynch (20 sacks). McCray may not have played a big role in the defensive end rotation, but he at least gave the team veteran depth at a position with either youth or role players.
Still, the Jaguars could consider the edge defender position to be strong enough to not have to look into adding free agents. Josh Allen is one of the team's best players, while K'Lavon Chaisson was just selected with the No. 20 overall pick. While Yannick Ngakoue has yet to sign his franchise tag tender, he does give the Jaguars a Pro Bowl-level talent in any event in which he does play for the team in 2020.
But while McCray's absence may not be felt on defense on a large scale, he will still likely be greatly missed on special teams. Considering the amount of roster churning that may take place for teams this season, a known special teams commodity like McCray would have been valuable. His head coach has pointed out his importance to the club's special teams unit over the years, and that can not be overlooked during an uncertain season.
“Lerentee has brought depth to our defensive line and has played at a high level on special teams since he joined us in 2017,” said head coach Doug Marrone after McCray was re-signed in February.
3) Undrafted free agent cornerbacks now have improved chances to make the roster
With Melvin no longer in the picture in 2020, it is now much easier for an undrafted cornerback to earn a spot on Jacksonville's roster. This year's training camp and preseason, or lack thereof, has put undrafted free agents in tough situations, but Jacksonville could see a rookie earn a break thanks to the numbers game of the roster now changing.
The obvious candidate to make the team would be Luq Barcoo, the former San Diego State cornerback who led the nation in interceptions (nine) and pass breakups (16), making him one of Jacksonville's highest-profile rookie free agents this year. He has the athleticism and ball skills to make it worth stashing on a roster that will already include Hayden, Herndon, Henderson and Scott.
Another name to watch could be Amari Henderson. A former Wake Forest starter who recorded seven interceptions and 40 pass deflections over the last four seasons. At 6-foot-1, Henderson has plenty of tools to go along with his history of production, which could give him a chance to sneak onto the roster.
