Old Friends, New Foes: Jaguars Set to Face Campbell, Ngakoue For First Time Since Departures

Not long ago, quarterbacks knew they had to be especially wary of playing the Jacksonville Jaguars because of two ferocious pass-rushers: Calais Campbell and Yannick Ngakoue.

But after the duo recorded combined for 61 sacks for Jacksonville from 2017-19, the Jaguars now find themselves asking the same question past offenses found themselves in weekly; how do they block Campbell and Ngakoue?

"Everyone knows what I’ve said in the past about those two players," Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone said Wednesday when asked about facing his former players. "I have a ton of respect for them, I really do."

The Jaguars are set to face Campbell and Ngakoue for the first time since each player's departure from the team this past offseason when Jacksonville travels to play the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. Each player left under different circumstances, but their circumstances will be the same on Sunday as they try to help the Ravens hand the Jaguars their 13th loss of the season.

Each defender was traded from the Jaguars before the 2020 season began, though one move came as a much more significant surprise. Each player leaving the roster were large dominoes falling in the teardown of Jacksonville's roster, with the team losing two emotional leaders and a pair of their most productive defenders.

Campbell was signed as a free agent in 2017 and instantly became the heartbeat of the team's locker room. Campbell was an All-Pro in 2017 as he recorded 14.5 sacks and helped turn the Jaguars from a last-place squad into the AFC's second-best team.

But with the Jaguars needed to create space heading into a 2020 season in which their salary cap was a mess after years of big spending, the Jaguars made the surprising and even still curious move of trading Campbell to the Ravens for a 2020 fifth-round pick.

The move to trade Campbell was a shock to most of the NFL world, and even players in Jacksonville's own locker room were left completely floored by the move. "The Mayor" had become a mythical figure in Jacksonville, but after three years and 31.5 sacks, he was gone.

"I’ve been in contact with a bunch of the guys over there, just because in football, you develop a brotherhood and friendship," Campbell said this week. "So, a lot of those guys I’m real, real tight with. So, it’s going to be fun competing and talking trash along the way and having some fun with the old team.”

Ngakoue, meanwhile, left on much different terms. While Campbell didn't expect to be traded, Ngakoue forced his own way out of Jacksonville by demanding a trade and publically stating on several occasions that he had no interest to play for the Jaguars in 2020.

Ngakoue has the second-most sacks in Jaguars history, but the 25-year-old wasn't going to play on the franchise tag for the Jaguars after his relationship with the team completely fell apart. He was traded to the Minnesota Vikings for a 2020 second-round pick and a 2022 conditional fifth-round pick.

After six games with the Vikings, Ngakoue was traded to Baltimore and reunited with Campbell. As a result, the Jaguars will now have to face their former players on the same Sunday.

"I hope that they’re doing well personally and everything and I hope they’re happy. I think anyone that coaches and coaches their players, whether they stay, whether they leave, whatever goes on, at the end of the day, you just hope that they’re happy," Marrone said Wednesday.

"There’s always the competitiveness where you do always want to play well against your team and your team wants to play well against you, but I have a ton of respect for those guys. You can’t get two better guys in a building than those two.”

The on-field impact of trading Ngakoue and Campbell has clearly been felt on Jacksonville's defense. The duo has been far from dominant in 2020, but they have combined for 10 sacks. Meanwhile, the Jaguars as a team have 16 sacks in 13 games.

Without the pair, the Jaguars have averaged 1.23 sacks a game in 2020. With them, the Jaguars recorded 2.9 sacks a game (2019), 2.3 sacks a game (2018), and 3.3 (2017).

Would Ngakoue and Campbell have changed that much for the Jaguars in 2020? Chances are the answer is a resounding "no". There are too many other issues on the roster for two pass-rushers to completely overhaul a 1-12 squad.

But they are still extremely dangerous defenders for any offense. No team knows this more than the Jaguars, and on Sunday, Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew II will learn the same lesson.

"I’m not going to talk trash to Calais. I know Calais. Calais is too nice of a guy, like I know it’s not real coming from Calais. We’re too cool, I hope," Minshew laughed on Wednesday.

"Now Yannick’s going to be out for blood, but Calais, I think he’s going to take care of me. I hope. It’s going to be a lot of fun. It’s always fun playing against former teammates. It’s one of the cool things about the league and it makes it a lot of fun.”