Which Jaguars' Rookies Have the Clearest Paths to Playing Time in 2020: No. 6-4

Entering the 2020 NFL season, the Jacksonville Jaguars are set to be a team of youth.

They have young core starters at quarterback, offensive tackle, wide receiver, defensive line and the secondary, and most of the team's elders from the last several seasons (Calais Campbell, A.J. Bouye, Marqise Lee) are no longer on the roster.

Add in the largest draft class in franchise history with 12 rookies, and the Jaguars are set to lean on their young talent throughout the entirety of this upcoming season as they hope to improve from last year's 6-10 record.

So as the Jaguars depend on their historically large draft class to help them turn around their fortunes, which rookies have the best chance to find the playing field early? We take things into consideration such as the likely depth chart, draft position, role, NFL ready ability and more.

In this edition, we look at the No. 9 through No. 7 rookies in our rankings of clearest paths to playing times.

Previously, we looked at No. 12 through No. 10 and then No. 9 through No. 7, with the following players starting the list:

No. 12: QB Jake Luton

No. 11: OL Ben Bartch

No. 10: LB Shaquille Quarterman

No. 9: WR Collin Johnson

No. 8: S Daniel Thomas

No. 7: TE Tyler Davis

So, who makes the next order in our list of rookies with the clearest paths to the field this season? We rank No. 6 through No. 4 and give our arguments for the players below.

No. 6: Josiah Scott

With their first of four selections in the fourth round, the Jaguars drafted Michigan State cornerback Josiah Scott with the No. 137 overall selection. Scott is a far cry from the usual tall, lanky cornerbacks the Jaguars have targeted in the past since he stands at only 5-foot-9, but his smoothness in coverage and reliability in the slot earned him fans in Jacksonville's front office.

While Scott translates best to the slot, the Jaguars do appear to be of the opinion that Scott can play on the outside as well, which could mean he starts the season off as Jacksonville's No. 4 cornerback.

"He's just an ultimate competitor, really tough, plays a lot bigger, I mean I think that was a key thing when you watch it," head coach Doug Marrone said after the draft. "Obviously, people will say 'hey listen, this guy who goes inside.’ Inside because they're looking at, you know, his height, but this guy shows the physicality to be able to play on the outside and do a good job, and then obviously the toughness you know equals special teams."

Scott will almost assuredly have Tre Herndon and CJ Henderson in front of Scott on the depth chart, while D.J. Hayden is firmly entrenched in Jacksonville's slot role. While Scott could start the season off as the team's primary backup cornerback, it could be tough for him to find snaps on defense early on in his career unless there are injuries in the secondary. Scott projects as Hayden's likely future replacement, but he may have to bide his time as a rookie

No. 5: DaVon Hamilton

With the No. 73 overall selection, the Jaguars took Ohio State's DaVon Hamilton, one of this year's top sleepers at defensive tackle since he frankly didn't get a lot of starting opportunities as a Buckeye until 2019. And while Hamilton may have to wait once again before he is a full-time player, he will still likely the field a fair amount as a rookie considering Jacksonville's need for run defense.

"It is still the same theme – we need to stop the run. We understand that, and we feel that we have some good pass rushers with [K’Lavon] Chaisson being there in the first round. Now, helping out in the middle now with [DeVon] Hamilton," Marrone said after the draft's second day. "We really feel good about him. He is a big guy. We think he is going to get a lot better even though he is really good right now. You can see him on the move. He has such great strength at the holding point. I think he is going to really help us on the inside."

Last year, the Jaguars were among the worst teams in the NFL at defending the run in large part because of poor nose tackle play. Marcell Dareus was lost for the season after Week 7 and each of his replacements failed to provide the run-plugging ability he offered. Now, the Jaguars will turn to players like Al Woods, Abry Jones and Hamilton to reverse that trend.

While Hamilton will have to fight off Woods and Jones for snaps, he should have a carved out role early on due to his skill set. He is more athletic than either Woods or Jones and he gives the Jaguars a higher ceiling as a pass-rusher in the interior, which could help him find the field as a rookie.

No. 4: Chris Claybrooks

This one is somewhat cheating since seventh-round pick Chris Claybrooks will likely be a kick returner early on as opposed to playing on defense, but kick returning is still one of the most important roles in the game's third phase, earning Claybrooks a spot here.

Claybrooks will have to prove to the Jaguars early on that he is dependable in terms of ball security, especially considering two fumbles are what lost Michael Walker the kick returning job last season. But as it stands today, nobody else on the roster has the speed and natural return ability of Claybrooks, which points to the likelihood that he plays often as a rookie thanks to his return skills.

“I hope so because that's why we drafted him," Jaguars general manager said following the draft when asked if he thought Claybrooks has return potential.

"That's his number one job is to come in here and be our kick returner first and foremost, hopefully earn a spot as a corner, then work on some of the punt returns skills. That's his forte."

A former wide receiver and return specialist at the junior college level, Claybrooks converted to cornerback in his first year at Memphis in 2018. In 2019, Claybrooks took over return duties for Memphis, returning 11 kicks for 338 yards (30.7 average) and one highlight-reel touchdown.

A glimpse into some of the return ability of #Jaguars 7th rounder Chris Claybrooks: pic.twitter.com/rixpkUHQrk
— John Shipley (@_John_Shipley) April 27, 2020