Jaguars DL depth will be tested with Dawuane Smoot out for the season with torn Achilles

On Saturday, Jaguars defensive lineman Dawuane Smoot announced on social media that an MRI conducted on Dec. 24 confirmed that he suffered a torn Achilles in last Thursday's win against the New York Jets. Smoot will miss the remainder of the season for Jacksonville including the team's potential playoff push.

The team officially placed Smoot, along with offensive lineman Cam Robinson (knee) on injured reserve on Monday, Dec. 26, ending their respective seasons.

"I'm disappointed that I won't be able to finish the season on the field alongside my brothers as we fight for a postseason berth, but I'm proud of the work we have done as a team to put ourselves in a position to play meaningful football at this point in the season," Smoot said via Instagram.

"I plan to be there for my teammates and support them as we work towards finishing strong."

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Smoot is in the final year of a two-year deal he signed shortly following the 2020 season with Jacksonville. He will become an unrestricted free agent in March of next year barring a contract extension or franchise tag.

"To the fans, I appreciate all the support and all the messages that I've received in the last 24 hours," Smoot continued. "It truly means a lot to both me and my family. I'm confident I'll attack my rehab and come back from this stronger and be ready for more football in 2023."

With Smoot lost for the year, the Jaguars will have some work to do in order to replace the depth and ability he provided from multiple spots on the defensive line and at outside linebacker.

Smoot is tied for the team lead in sacks this season (five) with Josh Allen and has accounted for 22.5 sacks in six years with Jacksonville since being selected in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft.

Josh Allen, Travon Walker must step up in Smoot's absence

The Jaguars have utilized outside linebacker/defensive lineman Arden Key in place of Walker's presence on the defensive line the past couple of weeks. Now, Key will likely transition to Smoot's role over the last few weeks of the year.

Key has accounted for 4.5 sacks this year and has played 79 combined snaps over the last two weeks, accounting for 1.5 sacks, one tackle for loss and three QB hits. After last week's win over the Jets, the veteran pass rusher said he "hated" when he saw Smoot go down, adding that the team's focus will have to be "extra" moving forward to replace him.

Jacksonville should be getting back both outside linebacker Travon Walker and defensive lineman Foley Fatukasi as they get set to play the Houston Texans in Week 17. Walker missed the last two games due to an ankle injury, while Fatukasi missed last week's matchup against the Jets on Thursday night.

Both players will be pivotal to provide the depth that's been impacted due to Smoot's absence. For context, Smoot has played 44 percent (446 out of 1,018) of the team's defensive snaps this year.

Walker, the team's first-overall pick this year, has just 3.5 sacks this season but appeared to be turning the corner prior to his injury in the team's Week 14 win over the Titans. With his hand on the ground more often, perhaps Walker will be able to provide more from a pass-rush perspective than he had earlier this year.

Allen will be another player the team needs to step up for the remainder of the season. With just five sacks this year, his production hasn't lived up to the lofty expectations set for the former first-round pick. Still, Allen has been the team's most impactful pass rusher in terms of pressures.

Allen has 15 hurries, according to Pro Football Reference, the most in his career. He's also played the most snaps in his career with 780 defensive snaps this season. His previous high came in 2021 when he played 769 snaps through 16 games played.

One player that the team could be relying on more this season is outside linebacker K'Lavon Chaisson, who has played 28 combined snaps over the last two games.

Chaisson has played just six games this season, missing the majority of it with a knee injury suffered Week 5. Chaisson was selected in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft and has two sacks in his career.

Jacksonville has been pedestrian at getting to the QB this season. They currently rank 27th in sacks with 29. Without Smoot, that ranking isn't likely to climb much higher.

Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on Twitter at @Demetrius82.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars' Smoot out for season with torn Achilles, depth will be tested