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The Jacksonville Jaguars' roster has talent at multiple positions, especially at cornerback. John Kosko of Pro Football Focus recently ranked the top 10 most physical cornerbacks from last season.
The Jaguars had two players land within the top five of the list, which is undoubtedly an impressive feat.
"The first pick of the second round in the 2021 NFL Draft, Campbell hasn’t quite lived up to his draft status, with just one season grading above 64.0. In 2022, Campbell earned an 80.7 PFF coverage grade, in large part due to his 203 snaps where he was physical with the opposing receiver," Kosko said.
"2023 was a down year, as he reduced his physical snaps to 116. He reasserted himself in 2024 with 218 but couldn’t replicate the success of 2022, posting a 55.7 PFF coverage grade and allowing 1.31 yards per cover snap."
The Jaguars also had a second cornerback make the list of the top 10 most physical backs last season, with veteran corner Montaric Brown ranking as the fifth-most physical cornerback in the league.
"The second Jaguar to make the list, Brown became significantly more physical in 2024 compared to the previous year. After making contact with opposing receivers just 81 times in 2023, he upped that number to 223 snaps in 2024. It led to mixed results, as he allowed 1.42 yards per cover snap but forced a career-high 10 incompletions," Kosko said.
Following minicamp, Jaguars Head Coach Liam Coen raved about Brown's solid offseason. He believes the veteran cornerback has the physical and mental tools to be successful. Coen noted Brown's ability to identify what opposing teams are trying to do, then make the correct play.
“He’s got strong FBI [football intelligence], man. The game makes sense to him. I think him playing in this little bit more vision on the quarterback zone is a strength of his, where he understands some concepts, he understands splits, recognition, what type of concepts are going to start to occur when two goes vertical or two goes under," Coen said.
"He has a feel. He’s not afraid to play with his hands at the line of scrimmage when he is playing some man-match coverage. He’s just got to continue to be consistent, but I think he, like you mentioned, has had a good camp.”
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Justin Verlander needs to listen to Father Time despite desire to keep pitching
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