Now, a few weeks into training camp, what might the Jacksonville Jaguars’ starting defense look like when they take on the Cleveland Browns to open the regular season?
We know who most of the starting spots belong to, but at linebacker specifically, playing time is up for grabs.
Given what we’ve seen throughout training camp, here is an early projection of who could make up the starting defensive unit in Week 1.
Defensive front
Josh Hines-Allen, Arik Armstead, DaVon Hamilton, Travon Walker
The questions within this unit are around what the rotations, specifically at defensive end, will look like.
Linebacker
Ventrell Miller, Foye Oluokun, Dennis Gardeck (base defense)
When in their base 4-3 alignment, my prediction is that these three will be on the field. When in nickel, Gardeck will come off. The competition between Miller and Combs seems to be quite close, but I’ll still defer to Miller, who has been stout in the run game and flashed some coverage abilities recently.
Cornerback
Travis Hunter, Jourdan Lewis, Montaric Brown
Lewis will be at the nickel position. When in base, it will be interesting to see which one of these cornerbacks is taken off the field. Jarrian Jones will be mixed in as well.
Safety
Eric Murray, Antonio Johnson
No surprises here. I also imagine we see a fair amount of Caleb Ransaw in that third safety role, a position that sees its share of playing time under Anthony Campanile.
This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: Predicting Jaguars Week 1 starting defense after 2 weeks of training camp
Reporting by Paul Bretl, Jaguars Wire / Jaguars Wire
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By Paul Bretl, Jaguars Wire | USA TODAY Network
