Why are Patriots not prioritizing JC Jackson despite star-level play?

The Patriots not fully unleashing cornerback JC Jackson despite his exceptional play the last two seasons is maddening.

Any fans in New England who were expecting the Patriots’ defense to pick up where it left off last season are delusional. No team, not even one coached by a living legend in Bill Belichick, is capable of overcoming the free agency departures and player opt outs that they were hit with.

Now, was some of that Belichick’s doing as a means to preserve cap space for 2021? Absolutely, but nobody could have predicted the Patriots defense being decimated to the extent that it had been prior to the start of the campaign.

Well, given their lack of depth at certain positions, you would think that Belichick and his assistants would play their best players as many snaps as possible without running them into the ground, right?

For one player, however, that somehow hasn’t been the case. Despite playing at an elite level for the second consecutive season, cornerback JC Jackson is playing just 76% of the defensive snaps, and the fact that number isn’t at least 90% is absolutely mystifying.

In his latest piece for The Athletic, columnist Jeff Howe made an excellent point as to why the Patriots insist on not fully unleashing Jackson, who’s started just two games (!) so far this season.

"“Remember, they (the Patriots) have consistently made it difficult for Jackson to climb the depth chart despite strong performances during games,” wrote Howe. “Until injuries occurred, Jackson was stuck behind Jason McCourty in 2018 and 2019 despite outplaying the veteran.“This season, Jackson has been their second-best corner again, but he has still come off the field (76.2 percent of the snaps) during various personnel packages. If these are all signs the Patriots are still looking for more out of Jackson, it’s fair to wonder whether they’re willing to break the bank for him.”"

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. Jackson will become a restricted free agent after this season after going undrafted back in 2018, and the Patriots would be out of their minds not to give him an extension, especially since fellow cornerback Stephon Gilmore’s future in New England beyond 2020 is anything but a sure thing.

As Howe notes, giving Jackson a first-round tender is probably the smart move here as it would allow the Patriots to not only match an offer sheet from another potential bidder — teams signing away players on first-round tenders is an extreme rarity — but extend their negotiating window for a potential new deal as well.

https://twitter.com/PFF/status/1321240785048788993

Look at graphic and try to tell us that Jackson has more to prove. The 24-year-old stud has a league-leading four interceptions and eight pass deflections on just 27 targets this season. He’s followed up his dominance from 2019 in regards to being one of the most dominant CBs in man coverage, earning an elite 76.7 grade through eight games from Pro Football Focus.

We could continue, but you get the point. The Patriots need to stop playing games and give Jackson a full complement of snaps and start preparing a contract offer for him. He proved last year that he’s more than just a specialist or rotational cornerback and it’s time that’s rewarded in a multitude of ways.

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