3 Observations on Jaguars' All-Pro Honors

It is hard to put into words what the resurgence of Devin Lloyd has meant for the Jaguars this year. A former first-round pick who had to fight for his role in training camp, Lloyd has become a leader for the defense and one of the best examples of the success of the Jaguars' new coaching staff. He had a good argument to make for first-team All-Pro, but it is good to see he was recognized one way or another.

Lloyd did so much for the Jaguars' upstart defense this year. He improved by leaps and bounds as a run defender, saw his game as a pass-rusher unlocked, and made special plays in coverage in massive wins against the Indianapolis Colts, Kansas City Chiefs, and San Francisco 49ers. Lloyd is just the second player in the last 20 seasons to have at least 10 quarterback hits and five interceptions in a season and the first since LB Lavonte David in 2013.

Matiscik has resume of NFL's best

The best long-snapper of his era? That is starting to feel like a legitimate point of discussion for Jaguars' long snapper Ross Matiscik, who has dominated over the years. Signed in 2020 as an undrafted free agent, Matiscik has been a force on coverage teams (22 tackles are most among LS in NFL since 2020), and has been a steady force for Cam Little and Logan Cooke.

A former linebacker who is the rare enforcer and play-maker at the position, he has racked up the accolades recently. In addition to three All Pro nods, Matiscik has been named to the Pro Bowl games in each of the last three seasons. He is. at the least, the best long snapper of the 2020s.

Jaguars have shown they can't be ignored

The fact the Jaguars got just two All-Pros despite a 13-4 season is obviously a bit disappointing, but I have covered many seasons where the Jaguars got zero All-Pros despite having more than a few deserving players. While the Jaguars certainly had other players deserving of nomination (Travis Etienne, Trevor Lawrence, Cam Little, Josh Hines-Allen), I do think the Jaguars made some progress here.

As long as the Jaguars continue to ascend next season and do not take a step back or take the expected leap so many will hope out of them, I expect this trend to only improve moving forward. The recognition for Lloyd and Matiscik should just be the start for the Jaguars in terms of this type of success.

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