Dante Fowler. Jalen Ramsey. Myles Jack. Malik Jackson. Prince Amukamara.
All of these guys are scheduled to play their first snaps with the Jacksonville Jaguars when the regular season begins in a few weeks. All of them are expected to play a big role in making this defense better.
But no one is probably going to have as big an impact as Tashaun Gipson.
Coming from the Cleveland Browns, Gipson represents the most startling upgrade at any position on the Jaguars from 2015 to 2016.
More from Jaguars
Danny Kelly, a new writer over at the Ringer, thinks Gipson is Jacksonville’s “X-Factor” in determining how good the defense could be:
Gus Bradley needs a rangy and instinctive deep-centerfield safety to effectively run his cover-3 scheme, and Gipson showed glimpses of that ability in Cleveland — particularly in 2014 when he intercepted six passes in just 11 games.