Why UDFAs Are Critical For the Jaguars

Randle and his regulators with the Minnesota Vikings were one of the most feared defensive lines of the 90s.

The history of the NFL has been painted by men who never heard their names called in the draft, men who have played a critical role in championship efforts, locker room unity, and men who have gone on to perpetuate the game in a positive way to the world and to their communities.

Randle and his regulators with the Minnesota Vikings were one of the most feared defensive lines of the 90s.

In that same time, the Jacksonville Jaguars became a franchise and a franchise that has needed the surprise performances of undrafted free agents in the past.

With a new crop of incoming free agents under the direction of stud finder James Gladstone, maybe the Rams' success with UDFA's will rub off in Duval County.

The value that undrafted free agents provide greatly outweighs their contract. They're the hard workers, energy guys. When they step on the field, make no mistake, it's clear that they earned that opportunity as teams look for every reason not to give them it.

When UDFA's play good, it's infectious. Why? It's the energy they bring. Everyone buys into it, and when you have the top stars playing with the same desire that the players who are scratching and crawling for their opportunities do, that creates a unit of ferocious beasts that are hard to defeat.

Undrafted free agents do not play in the NFL because they love football; they do it because they love their families as much as they love football, and football provides. At every turn, something is trying to take their meal, and they will not have food taken from their family's plate. When first-round players adopt that attitude, goodness.

When they don't. Let's not go down that road. UDFA players are critical to winning efforts, providing things that analytics are not able to measure. For teams like the Jaguars that manage a salary cap with a high-paid quarterback like Trevor Lawrence, undrafted free agents can be the edge that take teams to new levels.

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