Just two games stand between the Jacksonville Jaguars and their shot to make some sparks fly in the 2022 regular season. With so much young talent on the roster and a new coaching staff ready to prove their doubters wrong, the preseason is a perfect chance for the team to hone their craft and form a cohesive unit before the games count.
As it stands, the 85 players under contract in Jacksonville all have a chip on their collective shoulders as they look to improve on their wasted 2021 campaign. Saturday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers could prove to be an opportunity to really show some life against a legitimately challenging opponent.
Here are four players that could use a huge performance to justify a spot on the final 53-man roster in September:
WR Laquon Treadwell
Treadwell was once considered a top prospect in college football but has floundered in his five years at the NFL level. His status as a former first-round pick has likely bought him more time in the pros than raw stats would justify, but he has a legitimate shot to be a contributor for the Jaguars this season if he flashes in the preseason.
The Jaguars went all-in on Christian Kirk and Evan Ingram in the offseason to beef up their pass attack, but the lanky Treadwell could prove to be their best value-option at receiver if he can return to the form he showed at Ole Miss so long ago. After spending 2021 on Jacksonville’s practice squad and seeing minimal action when elevated to the 53-man roster late in the season, Treadwell is still fighting for a chance to become a consistent playmaker.
Listed behind Kirk, Zay Jones, and Marvin Jones Jr. on Jacksonville’s depth chart, he will have to put on a show in the next few weeks to justify a significant role in the offense.
DE Arden Key
Another SEC stud turned NFL dud is defensive end Arden Key, who signed with the Jaguars in the offseason as part of the team’s rebuild effort on defense. He hasn’t been nearly as productive at the pro level as some analysts had predicted he’d be when he declared for the draft in 2018, but that doesn’t mean there he is necessarily a lost cause.
Entering his fifth year in the NFL as a 26-year-old veteran, Key is in fierce competition with Dawuane Smoot and Adam Gotsis for a role as a rotational pass rusher entering Saturday’s game. With a couple of sacks or nice plays off the edge against the run, he could force the…
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