Considering the fact that Arizona appears to be on its way to a playoff spot and Jacksonville looks to be on its way to another top-five pick, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that the Cardinals have a much more developed roster than the Jags at this point. In Week 4, that talent differential will likely be on full display as the struggling Jags welcome a red-hot Arizona offense to town.
And certainly, there are a number of talented guys on that offensive unit that the Jaguars would love to have on their roster, like elite receiver DeAndre Hopkins. But to find the player who would have the biggest impact for Jacksonville at this moment in time, you have to look at the defensive side of the ball.
Outside linebacker Chandler Jones is one of the game’s best edge rushers. Though he is starting to get older, the 31-year-old still notched a career-high 19 sacks in his last complete season in 2019. A torn bicep limited him to just five games last year, but he’s off to a monster start in 2021.
In Arizona’s Week 1 win over Tennessee, Jones notched five sacks, tying a franchise record for single-game sacks in the process. He didn’t earn a sack in Week 2, but he should still be in for a very productive season.
While Josh Allen has been very good for the Jags, his most productive season (10.5 sacks as a rookie in 2019) would be the worst full-season total in Jones’ entire career. That’s a level of production Jacksonville hasn’t even sniffed defensively in a long time, and he would be an immediate upgrade over the tag-team group of K’Lavon Chaisson and Jihad Ward that plays opposite Allen.
Ward has flashed as a rotational player, but Chaisson has been exceedingly disappointing as a first-round pick to this point in his career. But a Jags defense that paired up Jones with Allen would vastly improve overnight.
As for the readers at home, we’d like to know who you would snag from the Cardinals. Would it be Jones, or another player? Vote in the poll below.
