The Jacksonville Jaguars have struggled against several teams the past few years. The Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs are among the most prominent ones. The Jags have failed to beat the last two Super Bowl champions on each of the last two occasions they've faced them. But if you want to single out one player who's been their biggest headache, Dalton Wasserman recently came up with the answer.
Wasserman recently discussed every NFL team's Achilles' heel and revealed that Jacksonville has struggled to contain wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown based on his PFF overall grade. Here's the skinny:
"St. Brown is one of the elite wide receivers in the game today, and the Jacksonville Jaguars have found that out firsthand on two occasions, Wasserman wrote. "In those matchups, St. Brown reeled in 22 receptions totaling 275 yards and four touchdowns. That production earned him a 92.7 PFF receiving grade across the two games. The 92.8 PFF receiving grade St. Brown recorded in Week 11 of last season against Jacksonville is the biggest single-game PFF receiving grade of his career."
As Wasserman noted, St. Brown is one of the most productive wide receivers in the NFL since the Detroit Lions selected him in the fourth round of the 2021 draft. He had success right off the bat, hauling in 90 receptions for 912 yards with five touchdowns as a rookie. The former USC Trojan was just getting started, as he's crossed the 1,000-yard mark each of the past three seasons.
What makes his success even more impressive is that he's mostly lined up throughout his career. That said, he's far from a one-trick pony and can also be effective if he plays outside. But regardless of where he lines up, there's no doubt that the Jags have struggled to defend him. Then again, he's far from the only Detroit Lion they have had trouble dealing with. Heck, they've been steamrolled in their past two encounters, losing 40-14 in 2022 and 52-6 last year.
The Jaguars won't be able to show Amon-Ra St. Brown in 2025 that they've improved
The Jacksonville Jaguars won't be playing Amon-Ra St. Brown and the Detroit Lions in 2025, so they'll have to wait to get their chance to exact revenge. On the other hand, their secondary should be much better than it was the past few years, so they should fare much better against opposing receivers, and they'll set to play a handful of talented ones next season.
Nico Collins (Houston Texans, Calvin Ridley (Tennessee Titans), Davante Adams (Los Angeles Rams), Courtland Sutton (Denver Broncos), Marvin Harrison Jr. (Arizona Cardinals), Ladd McConkey (Los Angeles Chargers), and the Cincinnati Bengals' duo of Tee Higgins and Ja'Marr Chase are among the receivers the Jags will need to contain. Working in their favor is that they have the firepower to pull it off.
Jourdan Lewis and Tyson Campbell were dubbed one of the best cornerback duos in the NFL. Montaric Brown is also having a strong offseason, and Travis Hunter should give the Jacksonville secondary a spark. Sure, the Jags may not be able to fully shut down opposing receivers, but they'll certainly be able to hold their own.
The bottom line is that cornerback was one of the Jaguars' biggest weaknesses last year. Their poor outing against Amon-Ra St. Brown was proof of it. However, the position could turn out to be a strength after the upgrades they made in the offseason.
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