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In pursuit of a pass rush, Gene Smith has brought many pass rushers to the Jacksonville defense this offseason. Aaron Kampman, Reggie Hayward and Austen Lane were all added in the hopes that they could act as every down ends, in passing or running situations. Tyson Alualu and D'Anthony Smith were added as pass rushers from the center of the defensive line. Rookie free agent, Aaron Morgan, joins Larry Hart as a defensive end/linebacker hybrid that will act as a rush specialist.
Morgan was not one that was expected to go undrafted by most. Just over a week prior to the draft, National Football Post reported that Aaron Morgan was climbing draft boards and that he was a being "graded as a potential fifth-round to sixth-round draft pick on some NFL teams' draft boards." Had it not been for a hamstring injury that prevented him from running a 40 time at his Pro Day, it is very possible that Morgan could've been drafted.
Morgan is the 2nd all time sack leader with the WarHawks and is 3rd all time in the Sunbelt conference behind only Brandon Guillory of ULM and Erik Walden of Middle Tennessee. From a production standpoint, Morgan certaintly didn't disappoint collegiately. In his 4 years with the program, he accumulated 138 tackles, 22 sacks and an interception.
Athleticism is clearly evident as well. When healthy his 40 time is in the 4.6-4.7 range, which is impressive for his 6'4, 242 pound frame. Combine that with 40.5" vertical leap, 4.13 shuttle time and 26 reps on the bench and there is an impressive athlete. Read Terry's analysis of shuttle times on Black & Teal, and I promise you, you'll be even more impressed by these numbers.
Quite frankly, I'm amazed that Morgan wasn't drafted and truely ecstatic that the Jaguars were able to sign him. He has as legitimate a shot as any to make the final roster.
Video Killed the Scouting Report
Aaron Morgan: By the Numbers
| Aaron Morgan |
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Position 1: Linebacker |
Height: 6'4 | ||||
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Position 2: Defensive End |
Weight: 242 | ||||
| Class: Senior | Age: 21 | ||||
| Bench Reps: 26 |
40 Time: 4.71 |
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| Stats Overview | Tackles | Misc | Interceptions | |||||||||||
| YEAR | TOT | SOLO | AST | SACK | STF | STFY | FF | BK | INT | YDS | AVG | LNG | TD | PD |
| 2006 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2007 | 33 | 16 | 17 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2008 | 45 | 22 | 23 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2009 | 45 | 28 | 17 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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