Getyy
2023 5th round pick Yasir Abdullah
In the NFL, there are always more players than there are spots. Fresh faces seize opportunities, veterans encounter unexpected hurdles, and organizations make choices that can define both careers and futures. For the Jacksonville Jaguars, the linebacker room became the heart of this summer’s drama. A battleground where linebackers Jack Kiser and Yasir Adbullah surged forward, and roles shifted. Leaving Chad Muma, a former third-round suddenly found himself standing at a career crossroads. On August 26th, Muma was one of many who were cut.
Every summer, some young players refuse to let coaches ignore them. For Jacksonville, that was Jack Kiser and Yasir Abdullah. Kiser arrived as a rookie but carried himself like a seasoned veteran. His reliability in practice carried into the preseason, where his tackling discipline and versatility stood out.
Abdullah, now in his third year, brought a dynamic edge to the linebacker group. His explosive first step routinely collapses the pocket, while his relentless energy ignites game-changing moments. Instead of merely competing, he and Kiser forced their way into the rotation, making themselves impossible to overlook. Their emergence put pressure on the depth chart, leaving one veteran’s roster spot increasingly precarious.
When Consistency Slips Away
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Three years ago, the Jaguars invested a third-round pick in Chad Muma with hopes he could become a core piece of the defense. On paper, his career numbers don’t look empty: 50 games played, 94 total tackles, 48 of them solo, and 1.5 sacks. But statistics alone don’t tell the full story.
For Muma, timing has always been the elusive ingredient. Too often, his reads and reactions arrive a split second late, leaving openings that shouldn’t exist. In the open field, his tackling lacked the steadiness expected of a starter, and those inconsistencies only grew more apparent as Kiser and Abdullah executed with greater sharpness. The preseason finale against Miami put these struggles under a spotlight: Muma not only found himself out of position, but missed tackles that prolonged drives, each misstep further evidence that the distance between potential and production had grown wider.
Not an Ending, but a Detour
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Still, Muma’s release is not the final chapter. Linebackers often flourish in new environments, where fresh coaching and tailored schemes allow strengths to shine. Muma’s downhill instincts and physicality against the run remain assets; Muma simply needs a system designed to minimize his limitations in space.
At just 26 years old, there’s still time for reinvention. NFL history is filled with players who found second lives after leaving their original teams. For Muma, the right defensive scheme could transform him from a disappointment in Jacksonville into a reliable starter elsewhere.
The Larger Truth
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Every cut tells more than one story. For the Jaguars, it was the validation of Kiser’s intelligence and Abdullah’s disruptive energy. For Chad Muma, it was the painful result of inconsistency meeting the rise of two talents. Yet, within that disappointment lies opportunity: the chance to step into a new system, one that values what he does best. Sometimes, being left behind in one place is exactly what’s needed to find the right place. For Muma, the end in Jacksonville may be the beginning of something better waiting to be found.