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Oluokun

Jacksonville’s defense has been no stranger to key injuries this season, with all of Oluokun, Darnell Savage, and Tyson Campbell missing significant time. Those absences have manifested in the team allowing the sixth most total yards per game and the second most pass yards per game through the first seven weeks. All three key players will be healthy together in Week 8 for the first time since their season opener.

Oluokun will have a 21-day window to practice before being activated from injured reserve. He came down with a case of plantar fasciitis that caused him to leave Jacksonville’s Week 3 game against the Bills. The Jaguars defense has, frankly, been lost without him. Whenever Oluokun does come back, it will be a big boost for the unit.

The defensive captain had already been ruled out for Week 4 against the Texans and will now miss the following three games on injured reserve. The Jaguars are extremely shorthanded on the defensive side of the ball with cornerback Tyson Campbell already on injured reserve and Darnell Savage downgraded from questionable to out. That’s not the best setup for a game against the Texans on deck in Week 4.

This means that Pederson believes Oluokun can return before missing the requisite four games that any player placed on IR must miss. Oluokun is reportedly dealing with plantar fasciitis and is expected to miss “several weeks,” but it sounds like a return sometime next month is well within reach. Oluokun has totaled 22 tackles and one sack in three games this season and will be sorely missed by the 0-3 Jaguars while he is out.

The Jaguars star linebacker left Week 3’s game against the Bills with the issue and did not return. Oluokun had been fantastic in his first three games, allowing just 20 yards in coverage. Ventrell Miller took over before garbage time hit, though it’s possible Chad Muma will get some extra run in two-linebacker sets.

The deal includes $22.5 million guaranteed. Oluokun, who’s played in Jacksonville since 2022, is coming off a career year with 111 solo tackles and 2.5 sacks. He’s recorded 20 tackles for loss for the Jags since the start of the 2022 season. Entering his age-29 season, Oluokun profiles as a key piece of a Jaguars defense graded by Pro Football Focus as last season’s 18th best.

This saves $10.3 million on the 2023 cap. The Jaguars, who have the league’s fourth lowest cap space, can use the money saved from Oluokun’s restructure towards re-signing TE Evan Engram.

Oluokun is getting $28 million guaranteed. The former sixth-round pick developed into a starter and every-down off-ball linebacker for the Falcons in 2020 and turns it into a big pay day as the NFL’s fourth-highest paid at his position at $15 million per year. It’s a curious commitment at a non-glorified position, but the Jaguars have money to spend. Oluokun received really poor marks from Pro Football Focus for both his run defense and pass coverage last season, but he remains in his prime at 27 years old later this summer.

Fowler noted that Oluokun should cost “well above $10 million per year.” Oluokun had a league-leading 192 combined tackles in 2021, but finished with just a 46.5 PFF Grade and has never been an exceptionally good cover linebacker. It would be a bit surprising to see someone with this profile get this big of a contract. The Falcons don’t have much cap space to work with and have already restructured Matt Ryan’s deal.

Oluokun (6'2/229) is an undersized weak-side linebacker prospect with outstanding athleticism, running 4.48 with a 37-inch vertical and twitchy 6.94 three-cone time at Yale’s Pro Day. Oluokun fits the Falcons’ movement-based profile for off-ball linebackers and should contribute early on special teams.