Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports Get to know the Jaguars’ new additions from draft weekend with our ‘3 things to know’ series. With the 2024 NFL Draft in the books, it’s time to reflect on how the Jacksonville Jaguars fared. Did Trent Baalke deliver a masterclass, or has he just set the Jags back five years? Truth is, we probably won’t know that for some time. But we can get to know the newest members of the team a little bit better. In the first of a mini-series of deep dives, here are three things to know about Jordan Jefferson, DT, LSU: Is Jordan Jefferson a freak? LSU DT Jordan Jefferson -- Brick Wall
- High level motor and pro ready tools
- Freak athlete for his size
- Moves off blocks quickly to get to the ball
- Can really push the sled
- Needs to work on leverage control
- Not many holes in his game pic.twitter.com/EG6yIFcRBm— Cønnør (@BernienChompz) November 15, 2023 Not necessarily a nice way to start this article, but I assure you, I come with complimentary intentions; each year, Bruce Feldman of The Athletic issues his ‘Freak List’, a compendium of NFL Draft prospects who have outrageous measurements and/or athletic testing. This year, Jordan Jefferson makes the cut - with Feldman comparing him favorably to his former teammate Dante Stills, now with the Arizona Cardinals in the NFL: “Dante Stills has some Freaky testing numbers, but they pale compared to the 6-2, 3/4, 305-pound junior, who had 17 tackles and four TFLs in 2021. Jefferson squatted 695, power-cleaned 395 and benched 495 pounds. He also moved remarkably well, vertical-jumping 34 1/2 inches and clocking a 4.52 in his pro agility time. (Stills, at 290, did a 4.42.)” Okay. So in the fourth round, Baalke has drafted a big dude who is ridiculously powerful AND is quicker than quick? So far it sounds like the Jags might be onto a winner with Jefferson - but wait, it gets better. As a student at Navarre High School, Florida, Jefferson won state honors in wrestling too! The defensive tackle played mostly nose in his early career before Matt House unleashed him in 2023. The former LSU defensive coordinator will reunite with both Jefferson and Maason Smith in Jacksonville after being named linebackers coach this offseason - a move that surely benefits the Jags defense. Not the first of his name to go from LSU to the NFL Jaguars love LSU and get a versatile IDL in Jordan Jefferson. His pad level and get off = power. Think he’s a modern NT type pic.twitter.com/ldjeQPLNGw— Bobby Football (@Rob__Paul) April 27, 2024 Has Trent Baalke fallen in love with Baton Rouge? That’s the question on, well, at least my lips after draft weekend. Not only was Jordan Jefferson the third player from LSU that the Jaguars selected in their first five picks, but news also followed that former Tiger Jarvis Landry would be working out at Jacksonville’s upcoming rookie minicamp. Coincidence, or has the Jags GM become enamored with one SEC school much in the same way the Philadelphia Eagles’ Howie Roseman did with Georgia the last two years? Who knows… Anyway. There are even more peculiar LSU-NFL links when it comes to Jefferson. A bit of research tells me that he wasn’t even the first person of his name to be signed to an NFL roster - and just like him, his namesake went to college at Louisiana State. The ORIGINAL Jordan Jefferson was a QB who played for the Tigers from 2008 to 2011, having a fairly successful college career that included a 48:20 TD:INT ratio and an MVP performance in at least one bowl game. He went to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent but lasted just four days on the roster - and later had spells in both the CFL and Arena League. Here’s hoping that Jordan Jefferson 2.0 has a much more distinguished NFL career. It should also be noted that - as alluded to earlier with Dante Stills - the Jags’ Jefferson actually only went to LSU for one season, after first carving out an impressive four-year career with the West Virginia Mountaineers. Jefferson’s stats tell us he’s something of a run-game disruptor with the ability to shoot gaps and meet ball carriers in the backfield - he has posted 16.5 TFLs and 5.5 sacks across his last 25 games for both WVU and LSU. A lifetime fire for football WOW:#Seahawks OL Christian Haynes took a rep here at center at the Senior Bowl. He PISSED off now #Jaguars DT Jordan Jefferson.
[ : @NickHarrisDC on X] pic.twitter.com/WyFkC3l9iG— HawkMania (@hawkmania4) April 28, 2024 Jordan Jefferson has been able to compile an impressive college career, but for many of us who decide to tune into draft prospects once the season is over, he might be best known for other reasons. After a pretty heated battle with UConn’s offensive lineman Christian Haynes, Jefferson yanked the helmet off his opponent and threw it across the field. The defensive tackle put that down to his ‘competitive fire’ once he’d regained his composure, but look back further and you’ll see that he plays with a passion for the sport that defines his game… Son to AJ, Jefferson’s father played football at Alcorn State - and as such Jordan has been playing the game since he was five years old. He played every position on the field except corner as a kid, despite his size. Speaking to the Detroit Lions Podcast prior to the draft, he describes football as his ‘why’, and that very little else means as much to him as this sport does. Naming Glenn Dorsey, Jevon Kearse and John Randle as some of the defensive tackles in the league he watched and looked up to, Jefferson intends to hold himself to high standards - something the Jags can only benefit from. Maybe the best answer Jefferson gave during the interview was when he was asked what he would bring to a team - the one thing he could hang his hat on and deliver. Without blinking, Jefferson was adamant the door would be closed on any inside run game he faced: “You ain’t never having a running back coming through those A-Gaps.” Sheesh. Welcome to Duval County Jordan Jefferson!
Source: https://www.bigcatcountry.com/2024/5/3/ ... -jefferson
