The Jacksonville Jaguars are making offseason moves to get better. Jacksonville plans to sign wide receiver Marvin Jones Jr. to a two-year deal for $14.5 million, including $9.2 million fully guaranteed. Also, the Jaguars agreed to trade for defensive tackle Malcolm Brown from the New Orleans Saints.
Marvin Jones Jr.
The signing of Jones reunites him with former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, who is now the offensive coordinator for Jacksonville. While in Detroit, Jones played well, catching 289 passes for 4,296 yards and 36 touchdowns. In 2017, Jones had his first 1,000-yard season with 1,101 receiving yards. He also led the NFL in yards per catch with 18.
Before playing for the Lions, Jones spent three seasons in Cincinnati with the Bengals. In eight seasons in the NFL, Jones has caught 423 passes for 6,025 yards and 51 touchdowns. Jones will be a legitimate outside threat for the Jaguars.
Malcom Brown
Brown is another player reuniting with a former coach; he played for Jaguars assistant head coach Charlie Strong at Texas. Brown signed a new contract with the Saints in 2019 for three years, $15 million.
Jacksonville has been horrible defending the run the past few seasons. From 2018-2020, the Jaguars gave up 136.5 rushing, and last season, 153.3 yards on the ground. Jacksonville also signed former Chicago Bears defensive tackle Roy Robertson-Harris and others to help rebuild the defensive line.
Brown started 29 regular-season games and three playoff games for the Saints over the last two seasons; he had 61 tackles, three sacks, and a fumble recovery in those games.
Brown is known for stopping the run. According to Pro Football Focus, Brown finished 2020 seventh in the NFL in run stopping % among the players who played at least 68 snaps against the run.
Only three players who played more run snaps than Brown had a higher run stop % per Pro Football Focus. Jacksonville seems to be heading in the right direction in fixing their run defense.