K'Lavon Chaisson Drafted by Jaguars: Jacksonville's Depth Chart After Round 1

Fresh off winning a national championship at LSU, linebacker K'Lavon Chaisson will start his NFL career with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Jaguars selected Chaisson with the 20th overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft.  

Here's what the team's defensive depth chart looks like with Chaisson and No. 9 overall pick CJ Henderson in the fold:

LDE - Josh Allen

DT - Abry Jones, Dontavius Russell

DT - Rodney Gunter, Taven Bryan

RDE - Yannick Ngakoue, Dawuane Smoot 

OLB - Myles Jack, Quincy Williams

MLB - Joe Schobert, Donald Payne

OLB - K'Lavon Chaisson, Leon Jacobs, Austin Calitro

CB - CJ Henderson, Rashaan Melvin, Tre Herndon

CB - D.J. Hayden, Parry Nickerson

FS - Jarrod Wilson, Andrew Wingard

SS - Ronnie Harrison, Doug Middleton

Chaisson had a successful three-year career with the Tigers from 2017-19. He was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team in his first season after recording 4.5 tackles for loss and two sacks in 12 games. 

After suffering a torn ACL in the 2018 season opener against Miami, Chaisson had a lot of questions to answer last season. The 20-year-old responded in resounding fashion with a team-leading 13.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks in 2019 to earn a spot on the All-SEC First Team. 

That performance caught the eye of draft scouts, including B/R's Matt Miller:

Miller expanded on that assessment by writing this in his first mock draft after Super Bowl LIV:

"Chaisson's story can't be told on a stat sheet. He battled injuries in 2018, and once on the field in 2019 he was the focus of every offense's game plan to beat the Tigers. The flashes were there, though, even if the stats weren't. Chaisson can bend, he has burst and he's long enough to affect the passing game even when he can't complete the sack."

Given the instant impact pass-rushers in recent drafts have made for their teams—specifically, players like Nick Bosa, Myles Garrett and Montez Sweat—Chaisson's upside makes him a worthwhile addition for the Jaguars. 

Even if Garrett, Bosa and Sweat set a high bar for any first-year player to clear, Chaisson has the talent to be a disruptive force on defense for years to come.

The Jaguars have one promising edge-rusher in Josh Allen on their roster. The No. 7 overall pick last year led the team with 10.5 sacks as a rookie. 

Jacksonville also has Yannick Ngakoue on its roster, though he has yet to sign the franchise tag and has expressed his desire to be traded. 

Given the uncertainty around Ngakoue, adding Chaisson to pair with Allen gives the Jaguars two promising edge-rushers as they look to make noise in the AFC South next season.