28. Calais Campbell

Team: Jacksonville Jaguars

Position: DE

Experience: 11 Years

At age 31, Calais Campbell changed teams for the first time in his NFL career. Prior to the 2017 season, Campbell had spent the first nine years with the Arizona Cardinals, making back-to-back Pro Bowls in 2014 and 2015. Yet, when free agency came around the price tag was too rich for them (their highest bid reached $9 million a year) and Campbell signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars for four-years, $60 million ($30 million guaranteed). The signing immediately paid dividends. Not only did the Jaguars house the best defense in the league during the 2017 season but Campbell set career-highs in sacks (14.5), quarterback hits (30), and forced fumbles (three).

In year two of Campbell’s big deal, things weren’t the same. Jacksonville’s defensive dominance dipped. The team went from leading at halftime on the road in the AFC Championship game the prior season to missing the playoffs and picking in the top 10 of the 2019 NFL Draft. The massive lineman still managed to be selected to the Pro Bowl and collected double-digit sacks (10.5) for only the second-straight season. He also totaled the most tackles combined (72) and solo (53) of his career to date. Though the team wasn’t able to repeat it’s successes in the win and loss column, it could be argued that Campbell is coming off of his best season.

Despite the 5-11 letdown of last year, there weren’t many big changes made to the roster this offseason–especially on the defensive end. Jacksonville made noise early in the spring of 2019 when they added quarterback Nick Foles in free agency. Blake Bortles was serviceable but never was able to take that next step to make the team consistent contenders. Given that the bulk of the Jaguars’ defense remained, getting a reliable quarterback was huge for this team. Campbell and co. now feel like they have an offense that can occasionally win them games instead of relying on the defense to stifle all opponents.

Campbell will be 33 years old when the 2019 NFL season kicks off. In NFL years, he is certainly not considered a young man anymore. With two of his best seasons coming recently there’s hope that Campbell can remain one of the top defensive linemen in the league for another year. At 6-foot-8 and 300 pounds, Campbell is one of the biggest players in the entire league. He might not have the same burst that saw him run a 4.85 40-yard dash at the 2008 NFL Combine but he still presents a combination of speed and power that makes him a tough block for opposing offenses.

In Jacksonville, the team feels like they have the necessary talent on both sides of the ball that will take them to Super Bowl LIV in Miami, FL. Campbell attended the University of Miami but left before the Hurricanes transitioned to playing their regular-season games at Hard Rock Stadium (host stadium of Super Bowl LIV). In order to make this homecoming come to fruition, the Jaguars are going to need their defense to once again be one of the best units in all of football. That starts with Campbell, despite the talent at the next two levels (Myles Jack, Josh Allen, Jalen Ramsey, and A.J. Bouye), IG Campbell and the rest of the defensive line can’t contain the run and put pressure on the quarterback then everyone else’s job becomes that much harder.