Jaguars Lose Defensive Anchor DaVon Hamilton to Season-Ending Quad Tear

The Jacksonville Jaguars just put an absolute 42-7 beating on the Indianapolis Colts, but the victory lap got cut violently short. According to Ian Rapoport, standout defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton suffered a torn quad during Sunday's blowout and is expected to miss the rest of the season.

Losing your defensive anchor in a game you won by 35 points is the universe's way of reminding you that NFL joy is strictly prohibited. It is the football equivalent of totaling your car on the way home from cashing a winning scratch-off ticket.

"Ian Rapoport reported that Hamilton suffered a torn quad and is expected to be out for the season, calling it a 'massive hole for Jacksonville.'"

Hamilton was carted off the field in the second quarter, leaving a massive 335-pound void in the middle of the Jacksonville defense. He had 16 tackles and half a sack on the year, but box score scouting does not apply to nose tackles. His actual job was eating double teams so the linebackers could run free and make plays.

The timing is brutal for a Jaguars team that is currently 5-2 and sitting in first place in the AFC South. You can scheme around a lot of things in this league, but you cannot fake having a massive human being who refuses to be moved off the line of scrimmage.

Ruke Orhorhoro is next up on the depth chart to take over those interior snaps. That is a massive drop-off in experience right as the divisional race starts getting serious and the weather starts getting colder.

Anyone looking at the betting board for upcoming Jacksonville games needs to factor this in immediately. A defense missing its primary run-stuffer is a completely different unit, and opposing offenses are going to test that interior gap until the Jaguars prove they can stop it.

Hamilton will undergo more tests today to confirm the damage, but the season-ending expectation is already baked in. Jacksonville has to figure out how to plug the middle, or their smooth ride at the top of the division is going to get very bumpy.