Which Jaguars' Rookies Have the Clearest Paths to Playing Time in 2020: No. 3-1

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.

Previously, we have ranked nine of the team's 12 picks in the following order:

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

No. 6: CB Josiah Scott

No. 5: DL DaVon Hamilton

No. 4: KR Chris Claybrooks

In this edition, we look at the No. 3 through No. 1 rookies in our rankings of clearest paths to playing times, which will be the three rookies we predict to see the field the most in the upcoming season.

No. 3: WR Laviska Shenault

The only thing preventing Laviska Shenault from being higher than he already is on this list is the fact that Jacksonville has four returning veteran receivers who will all see snaps in the offense. But make no mistake, the second-round (No. 42 overall) pick out of Colorado will likely be heavily leaned upon by Jay Gruden and the Jaguars' coaching staff this season as they look to spark an offense that was 26th in scoring last season.

In three seasons at Colorado, Shenault recorded 149 catches for 1,943 yards (13.0 average) and 10 touchdowns. He also added on 42 carries for 280 yards (6.7 average) and seven rushing touchdowns, showing his versatility as a weapon. So even while DJ Chark, Chris Conley, Keelan Cole and Dede Westbrook will all be featured with Shenault on the receiver depth chart, Shenault will likely still have a niche role carved out in the offense early on as a result of his explosive ability in the passing and running game.

"I told him, I said, ‘Look, we have some plans,’ and you can put him in the backfield, he can play Wildcat, you can put him as the F-tight end, you can do a lot of things with him," head coach Doug Marrone said after the draft. "You see it on his tape in 2018 and 2019. That’s one of the things that we looked at; we went back there, and I said, ‘Look, we can do all those things, but the whole key is going to be how well you grasp it, how well you pick it up.’ Because if he can, make no mistake about it, we want to be able to do those things.”

Shenault will likely still have his ups and downs, much like Chark did in 2018, but he is one of the most important additions to an offense that desperately needs to improve. Even if he isn't an official starter for all 16 games, look for him to see extensive playing time.

No. 2: OLB/DE K'Lavon Chaisson

Jacksonville's third front seven defender selected in the last three seasons, LSU linebacker/defensive end K'Lavon Chaisson's path to playing time in 2020 isn't yet solidified, but there are two separate scenarios where the athletic edge rusher still gets a heavy dosage of snaps.

In one scenario, the Jaguars have a void at edge rusher across from 2019 top pick Josh Allen due to uncertainty surrounding Yannick Ngakoue. While Ngakoue's future with the Jaguars, or elsewhere, is still unknown, what happens with him in the present is just as much of a mystery as of today. In the event the Jaguars are without Ngakoue this season, Chaisson will likely be first in the pecking order to provide the Jaguars with speed and pass rush off of the edge. Jacksonville picked him at No. 20 to ensure their edge depth would remain a strength, and this is a scenario that would put it to its test.

“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. 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," Marrone said after the draft's first round concluded. "The one thing that I see is a really good future. 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."

In the event Ngakoue does sign his franchise tag tender and play for the Jaguars in 2020, Chaisson will likely play the rotational role Allen played for Jacksonville as a rookie in 2019, though there is a good chance he will also be asked to play snaps at strong side linebacker. So no matter what happens, the Jaguars will likely ask Chaisson to play a fair bit in 2020.

No. 1: CB CJ Henderson

The rookie with the easiest path to playing in 2020 is also the highest-picked rookie. The top investment Jacksonville made in this draft class, Florida cornerback CJ Henderson was picked with the No. 9 overall pick so that he could become a day-one impact player and become the face of Jacksonville's new-look secondary.

Other cornerbacks on the depth chart will include Tre Herndon, D.J. Hayden (as a slot corner), Josiah Scott and Rashaan Melvin, and it is hard seeing Henderson sit behind any of these players for a multitude of reasons. The Jaguars wouldn't have made Henderson the second-highest drafted cornerback in team history if they didn't have intentions of him stepping in to replace Jalen Ramsey and A.J. Bouye right away, even if it will be a tall task for any rookie to come in and be a vital starter right away.

“I really feel like you have someone that you could put on a no. 1 receiver, and the reason why I believe that is because C.J. has speed," Marrone said following the first round. "Sometimes these no. 1 receivers may be smaller, fast guys. C.J. is big, also physical in press so you can put him on the bigger, stronger receivers, so I felt that he’s a great fit, a guy that can truly be a no. 1 corner and can take guys out of the game."

Henderson may not be asked to shadow top receivers every single game from the jump because the transition from college to the pros for a cornerback is always tough, but he has the athletic ability and playmaking traits to make it worthwhile for the Jaguars to give him a heavy workload in year one.

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