The 2021 NFL season was supposed to be where the Jacksonville Jaguars were going to take a significant step forward, with Urban Meyer expected to change the team's culture and instill a winner's mentality. None of those happened. Meyer got sacked before the season even ended, and the Jaguars won just three games. But another offseason brings hope for Jacksonville, which should be busy in the coming months making adjustments on the roster. With that said, here are some of the 2022 Jaguars free agents who deserve another contract from the team.
Jaguars 2022 NFL Free Agency Moves
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4. Tavon Austin
Austin isn’t exactly someone who will attract plenty of attention in the market. He’s going to be 32 by the time the 2022 NFL season rolls around and just doesn’t have enough to become a primary weapon downfield. Then again, he is a veteran who can still provide the spark as a deep threat.
Trevor Lawrence is still learning how to be an effective quarterback in the NFL. His training wheels have not yet come off, and Austin should continue to be part of that wheelset for at least one more season. In 2021, Austin recorded 24 receptions and a touchdown on 37 targets. Assuming Lawrence gets better along with the offensive line over the offseason, Austin could see his ceiling get higher in 2022, even as just an auxiliary in the Jags’ passing attack.
3. Dare Ogunbowale
Ogunbowale was almost non-existent in the first few weeks of the season. He had not seen more than seven percent of offensive snaps in a game until Week 8, though he was mostly assigned to play with the special teams. Ogunbowale then benefited from the health issues (and load management) of James Robinson and Carlos Hyde towards the end of the season, during which he saw an uptick in usage as the top option out of the backfield for the Jaguars.
There is no real expectation for Ogunbowale to suddenly turn into Jonathan Taylor in 2022, but if Jacksonville needs some decent insurance in the backfield, why not re-sign Ogunbowale? The Jaguars are going to roll with the 1-2 combo of Robinson as the RB1 and Travis Etienne as RB2 in 2022. The latter missed the entire 2021 NFL season after suffering a foot injury in the preseason, and his return to active duty would likely mean someone’s on the current running back picture in Jacksonville will get the ax. It shouldn’t be Ogunbowale.
2. Adam Gotsis
There’s not a lot to be proud of for the Jaguars about their defense in the 2021 NFL season. They allowed 26.9 points per game and let opposing quarterbacks connect on their passes 69.43 percent of the time – good for second-worst in the entire regular season. Needless to say, the Jaguars will have to spend a large amount of time in the offseason focusing on their defense, particularly on their pass rush that ranked 27th overall in adjusted sack rate.
While a major retooling on the defensive line is needed to address that lack of punch in the pass rush, the Jaguars should try to keep Adam Gotsis, who’s managed to deliver for the team on limited time. Although he started in just four games and appeared in only 39.89 percent of defensive snaps, Gotsis, who signed a one-year deal worth just $1.12 million in March 2021, has managed to make his presence felt, collecting three sacks to go with 27 total tackles and seven quarterback hits.
1. DJ Chark
It’s a shame that Chark had his contract year curtailed by a fractured ankle he suffered in Week 4’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals. That injury effectively cost him the rest of the 2021 NFL season and a chance to further show why he deserves to get another contract from the Jaguars, who selected him in the 61st overall in the 2018 NFL Draft. Chark was trending towards a solid season before the injury, as he had already posted a couple of touchdowns and 154 receiving yards on just seven receptions across three games.
While Chark was on the sidelines, he saw the Jaguars' struggles in the passing game. Jacksonville’s wide receivers constantly dropped passes, partly explaining why Jacksonville finished the regular season 32nd in scoring offense and 27th in total offense. Chark could have been a big help in addressing that issue if he were healthy. Re-signing Chark, who made it to the Pro Bowl in just his second year in the pros, must be among the top priorities for the Jags in the offseason.
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