From Cam Robinson to Andre Cisco, these Jaguars could be the difference for the Jaguars in their quest for a championship title

The Jacksonville Jaguars have legitimate Super Bowl aspirations.

Gone are the days of waiting for next year, because it seems that ‘next year’ season is now upon us.

It will take more than a fair share of lucky breaks, player health, and glasses-on-the-end-of-Doug-Pederson’s-nose type plays for the Jaguars to get to a place they have never been before. But it seems like this could be the team.

If the Jaguars are to get to the promised land -- held in Las Vegas on February 11, 2024 --here are five less-than-obvious players that will need to play a key role in a Super Bowl run.

Cam Robinson

Jacksonville’s veteran left tackle will start his seventh year in the league in street clothes, as he was suspended in late April. Robinson is in the process of appealing his suspension, but assuming that his suspension is upheld, he will be unable to start the year. So, why would he be an X-Factor for the team?

Oddly enough, his suspension gives the Jaguars depth for whenever he comes back. The team could go one of two ways when he returns, and both should be equally appealing.

With extra time for his knee injury from late last season to heal, he could fit right back in post-suspension. Walker Little, who will be filling in for Robinson, could move to right tackle, and then the Jags have first-round pick Anton Harrison (with newly-earned game experience) waiting in the wings. The trend in the NFL is to have swing linemen at the ready, and much like last season, the Jags will have that again.

The other option is to maybe let the line play it out once Robinson returns. If Little and Harrison are playing well, maybe the team lets them play together until the Week 9 bye or beyond. At that point, the Jags have Robinson if things go awry.

He gets paid too much to not be out on the field, but whatever combination of guys that are keeping Trevor Lawrence’s jersey clean will be those who play. That could be Little and Harrison, Robinson and Harrison, or Robinson and Little. Little or Harrison could also kick inside to left guard.

The team will almost certainly put Robinson back in the starting lineup once he returns, but at least the Jags will have options to protect QB1.

Folorunso Fatukasi

A lot of Jaguars fans may have forgotten that the team signed Fatukasi to a 3-year, $30 million contract. He only played in 14 games due to injury and suffered an injury in training camp.

The Jaguars need to perform better on the defensive line if they are to reach the Super Bowl, and some of that performance may come by way of the mildly-forgotten Fatukasi.

Last season, the Jaguars allowed 4.2 yards per carry, which tied for the ninth-best rate in the league. In fact, much of the team’s defensive statistics against the run were above league averages.

That is where Fatukasi fits in.

If the Jaguars can get production from him that resembles his last two seasons with the Jets (15 games played each year with 42 and 46 combined tackles, respectively) then the team can easily be a top-7 rush defense with room to grow. Roy Robertson-Harris established himself as a problem for offensive linemen late last season, and DaVon Hamilton has improved every year and was rewarded with a massive contract.

In the Eagles game where Fatukasi got hurt, the Jags were gashed in the run game after he went out.

If healthy, Fatukasi gives the interior defensive line just one more option to impact the game.

JaMycal Hasty

Hasty is the definition of an X-Factor player. He will not get starter minutes, and his play will almost always be situational, but he gets on the field for a reason. Ask the Colts.

Jacksonville’s running back room largely resembles Philadelphia’s running back room of 2017 when Doug Pederson won a Super Bowl.

Travis Etienne will have LeGarrette Blount’s starting role. Tank Bigsby can be the Jay Ajayi equivalent. And that leaves Hasty to be some combination of Wendell Smallwood, Corey Clement, and Kenyon Barner.

For a more Jaguars-specific example, Hasty can easily be the Corey Grant-esque option for the offense.

That is something a coaching staff can live with.

He earns those sneaky yards, catches well, and can flat-out fly in the same way Grant and specifically Clement could. As of today, Hasty is probably the most-trusted Jaguars back on passing downs, both as a blocker and receiver.

He and Jamal Agnew are especially difficult to plan against because their very presence on the field can make opposing defensive coordinators second-guess play calls or alignments. Forcing an opponent to take that extra second to think can be the difference between a loss or a 61-yard touchdown rush.

Luke Farrell

Bear with me here.

All eyes are on the likes of Calvin Ridley and Evan Engram when it comes to the Jaguars’ offense. Rightfully so.

Guys that get no love or no attention are the guys that do the dirty work. That is where Luke Farrell comes in.

The tight end room is smaller, with only Farrell and Engram returning to the roster. The Jaguars did draft Brenton Strange, giving the team three solid options.

Engram is the receiver of the room, while Farrell is the blocker, and Strange will serve as the tweener.

After the departure of Chris Manhertz, the team needs an extra blocker that isn’t necessarily a big receiving threat.

Sure, Manhertz and Farrell both have caught passes, but they are both mainly utilized to clean up the edges for guys like Etienne or Hasty or to keep Lawrence upright.

It is the NFL’s worst-kept secret that Pederson likes tight ends. Last season, Jacksonville ranked ninth in 12 personnel usage and fifth in 13 personnal usage, per Sports Info Solutions.

As Strange adjusts to the NFL, third-year pro Farrell is going to have to see the field. The team parted with all their other tight ends, so that should be a testament enough to what the coaches think Farrell can do.

Andre Cisco

The biggest reason for having Andre Cisco on this list is to try and find out what in the world is in those oats he claims to be eating.

Cisco’s bicep growth aside, the third-year safety out of Syracuse may be one of the most important defensive factors for the Jaguars this season.

Everyone knows Cisco can lay the hammer down on defense, but in coverage, he certainly has room to improve.

Last season, on a smaller sample size of 29 targets, Cisco allowed 22 catches for 16.5 yards per catch.

The Jaguars are going to be tested a lot in 2023 in the passing game, so it is safe to say the defensive enforcer in Cisco is going to have to, well, enforce.

Cisco and Rayshawn Jenkins struggled at times during the season in deeper coverage but continued to play excellent when they were moved closer to the box.

If Cisco can improve on his coverage skills, especially over the top, there is no reason the Jaguars cannot have one of the better defenses in the AFC.