Here is the ninth of a 10-part series breaking down the Jacksonville Jaguars' free-agency needs, position by position:
Cornerback
Who is on the roster: Deion Belue, Tommie Campbell, Aaron Colvin, Dwayne Gratz, Jeremy Harris, Demetrius McCray, and Rashaad Reynolds.
Players scheduled to become free agents on March 10: Alan Ball and Teddy Williams.
Analysis: Coach Gus Bradley said numerous times that he wanted to see his defensive backs breaking up more passes. The group really didn’t deliver in that area. The cornerbacks combined for 17 of the team’s 49 pass breakups, led by Gratz’s nine. McCray and Ball, who started the first seven games and then missed the rest of the season with a biceps tear, had three each and Colvin had two. The corners only picked off two passes, one each by Gratz and Ball. Gratz struggled early in the season and got taken out the starting lineup at left cornerback. However, he was back as the starter at right cornerback for the final nine games after Ball went on IR. The biggest surprise of the season was how well McCray played. Though the 2013 seventh-round draft pick didn’t make many plays on the ball he did well in coverage. For example, he helped hold Antonio Brown, the league’s leading receiver in catches (129) and yards (1,698), to five catches for 84 yards. Colvin finally got on the field for the final six games after recovering from a torn ACL he suffered in January and he made an immediate impact, returning a fumble for a touchdown against the New York Giants in his second game. The Jaguars released Will Blackmon last week. He was the team’s nickelback and now it appears the Jaguars’ top three corners are McCray, Colvin and Gratz, with McCray and Colvin starting and Gratz playing inside. Colvin also can play inside so the Jaguars have some flexibility. It’ll be interesting to see if the Jaguars bring back Ball, who has been the team’s best corner over the past two seasons, leading the team with 14 pass breakups in 2013.
NFL free agents of interest: The Jaguars feel pretty good about McCray, Ball and Gratz but it wouldn’t be a surprise if the team added a corner or two in free agency. The name most often linked with the Jaguars is Byron Maxwell, who played for Bradley in Seattle. Other names to watch include Kareem Jackson and Walter Thurmond III, another former Seahawks player.
