Heading into the 2019 season, it’s clear who the Jacksonville Jaguars’ key players are in Calais Campbell, Jalen Ramsey, Nick Foles, Dede Westbrook and Leonard Fournette. Simply put, at some point in their career, all four have played at a high enough level to be considered top-100 players.
However, those players can’t do it alone and will need the help of a few X-Factors as the season unfolds. By definition, an X-Factor in football is an unknown player who turns out to be a big-time contributor with the blue-chip players, and with a young roster like the Jags’, there are plenty of candidates.
Here are five players we feel could be X-Factors for the Jags during the 2019 season:
WR DJ Chark
It seems a lot of fans wanted to draft a receiver high this April and were very disappointed that the Jags didn’t. However, it was just last year that the team drafted DJ Chark in the second-round after admitting they thought he was a first-round talent. That said, they clearly elected to not take a receiver with his development in mind.
Chark had a rough rookie season from drops, to fumbles, to penalties and even injuries. However, most rookie receivers don’t have a strong showing out of the gate, to begin with. There were also spurts where he shined as a deep threat, possessions receiver and on special teams, too.
With a year of experience under his belt, Chark admitted he’s more comfortable now and his positions coach, Keenan McCardell, seems to agree. It has also seemingly helped him to have a better quarterback behind center in Foles. In fact, most could argue that Chark was the MVP of minicamp and organized team activities, which is a sign that he may be over his rookie season.
WR Chris Conley
In terms of his skill set, Conley is much like Chark, but he’s just more experienced than him and most of the Jags’ other receivers. He also was a minicamp and OTA standout last month as it was evident he and Foles have a connection from their days with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Many will be quick to point out that Conley saw limited action with the Chiefs under Tyreek Hill and Sammy Watkins, but in looking at his career and skills, he has the ability to be a dark horse free-agent signing. One reason he struggled to find his footing with the Chiefs was because he was hampered by an Achilles injury throughout his time there, but is now 100 percent. That’s a good thing for the Jags as he tested off the charts athletically as a college prospect and has unreal speed and jumping ability, which could benefit Foles in a big way.
TE Josh Oliver
We all know how important the tight end position is to the Jags’ offense, and Oliver has the skills to be John DeFilippo’s version of Zach Ertz, whether that is immediately or down the road. And though I wouldn’t exactly call Foles elite, his ball placement mixed in with Oliver’s length will be difficult to defend, and we got a glimpse of that in OTAs and minicamp.
Of course, we’ll have to see if Oliver can continue his summer performance by showing up when the pads go on, but the early signs are encouraging. Add in the fact that the group behind him and Geoff Swaim isn’t particularly strong and one could see why he may not have any choice but to be the guy, even as a rookie.
DE Josh Allen
As we pointed out Monday, the Jags’ sack numbers dropped from second in the league in sacks in 2017 with 55, to 22nd in 2018 with 37. Adding Allen to the rotation definitely should help that issue as he was the Southeastern Conference’s best pass rusher last year and racked up a whopping 88 tackles, 17 sacks, 21.5 tackles for loss and five forced fumbles,
Truth be told, the Jags are very fortunate to have Allen because many had him graded as a top-4 selection. The last time a player of Allen’s magnitude fell in the Jags’ lap was in 2016, and his name was Jalen Ramsey. That said, if Allen works out in a similar fashion and Yannick Ngakoue returns soon with a new deal, the Jags’ pass rush should be an elite one again.
S Ronnie Harrison
The reason Harrison was a no-brainer for this list was because he’s already proven to be an X-Factor with the short amount of starts he got in 2018. In Week 13’s game when he replaced Barry Church as one of the team’s starting safeties, he was an impact player and got a key sack on Andrew Luck late in the game. He also was a key reason the Jags shutout the Indianapolis Colts in that meeting by a score of 6-0.
The following week, Harrison continued to make impact plays as he got a pick on the Tennessee Titans early in their Thursday Night Football battle, despite the Jags losing 30-9. He ultimately exited the game with an injury, which resulted in him going to injured reserve afterward. The bottom line is that Harrison proved to be an immediate upgrade over Church and made several impact plays upon becoming a starter. With a year under his belt, it wouldn’t be a shocker if he’s better in 2019.
