Jaguars fourth-year cornerback Montaric Brown has steadily moved up the depth chart since he was drafted in the seventh round in 2022.
He was only active for eight games as a rookie with one start before carving out a part-time role in 2023 with 12 games played and six starts. Last year, he appeared in every game with 10 starts and a 72% snap share that led an injured cornerback room.
Now, Brown is contending for a full-time starting job opposite Tyson Campbell, according to ESPN’s Michael DiRocco. He performed well in first-team reps during spring practices, which should put him in the lead as training camp approaches later this month. Behind him is 2023 third-rounder Jarrian Jones, who primarily played nickel last season and said in the spring that he had no experience with the zone coverages run by new Jaguars defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile.
Another factor is No. 2 pick Travis Hunter, who spent some time at cornerback in the spring. Jacksonville is still ironing out the details of its plans to use him on both sides of the ball, but he is expected to primarily play receiving while rotating in at cornerback.
If Jones is able to adapt to Campanile’s scheme while moving to the boundary, he could push Brown for the CB2 job and offer an easy solution to the questions surrounding Hunter’s usage. Jones could start opposite Campbell and slide into the slot in nickel and dime sets with Hunter replacing him on the boundary.
A Campbell-Brown starting duo, however, would complicate Hunter’s path to getting on the field. He primarily played on the outside in college and saw substantially higher slot usage in 2024. That may have to continue in Jacksonville to share the field with Campbell and Brown, neither of whom have spent much time at nickel.
The Jaguars also signed Jourdan Lewis to a three-year, $30MM contract this offseason, indicating the team’s new regime has a plan for him, too. He has played 3,400 snaps in the slot during his eight-year career in Dallas, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required), so he will likely push for the starting nickel job as well.
Jacksonville will have to juggle its recent investments and assorted positional fits into a functioning secondary during training camp. Campanile will likely test a number of cornerback duos and trios to figure out which grouping offers the most upside.