Jalen Ramsey was great in 2016 even if the Jacksonville Jaguars weren’t. For a team that went 3-13, the rookie cornerback was worth tuning in for on a weekly basis. Ramsey’s infectious confidence forced you to pay attention, even if his budding abilities as a shutdown cornerback didn’t already.

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The 22-year-old picked fights with wide receivers Steve Smith and DeAndre Hopkins, called an entire crew of officials “homers,” and broke down on the sideline when he got sick and tired of the Jaguars losing.

Ramsey backs up the hype. He’s a 6’1, 209-pound bully at the position. He’s among the best cornerbacks against the run and has the speed to lock down the NFL’s fastest receivers.

It’s those skills paired with his attitude that makes him impossible to ignore and one of the most fun players in the league.

Ramsey is afraid of nobody

Over the course of Steve Smith’s 16-year NFL career, he humbled many defenders. Few had anything to say back.

Ramsey had plenty to say.

After the Jaguars lost to the Baltimore Ravens, 19-17, in Week 3, Ramsey told reporters he was the one who got into the five-time Pro Bowl receiver’s head:

Safe to say Jalen Ramsey and Steve Smith are not going to be friends.



"He's a good player.. but I don't respect him as a man."#Jaguars pic.twitter.com/2sSypS02XD — Alyssa Lang (@AlyssaLang) September 25, 2016

Smith responded on Twitter and on ESPN; Ramsey responded on Instagram. Feel free to decide if Smith’s eight receptions for 87 yards makes him the winner, or pick who looked better in the postgame exchanges. But does it matter?

Ramsey was unafraid of going toe-to-toe with one of the NFL’s most notorious and feared trash talkers.

In the remainder of his rookie year, Ramsey built a rivalry with the AFC South’s best receiver, DeAndre Hopkins. Since the end of the season, Ramsey and Hopkins have traded barbs with the cornerback taking shots on Instagram.

When the Jaguars signed cornerback A.J. Bouye, Hopkins lauded the move, telling reporters that Bouye “better be the dude guarding me on third down instead of Jalen because he couldn’t get the job done.”

In two matchups with the Jaguars in 2016, Hopkins tallied 13 receptions on 30 targets for 135 yards and no touchdowns. When the pressure was on, it was Ramsey who got the job done.

Ramsey talks the talk and walks the walk

In the second meeting of the Texans and Jaguars, Hopkins finished with eight receptions for 87 yards. Ramsey finished with an interception, a forced fumble, and a series of highlights against Hopkins that didn’t show up in the stat book.

Ramsey broke up a fade to Hopkins on fourth and goal:

Stopped a third-down conversion with an impressive tackle in space:

And then belted Hopkins on a third down when Tom Savage hung the receiver out to dry:

On a crucial third down with minutes left in the game and the Jaguars nursing a 20-14 lead, Ramsey was called for a pass interference against Hopkins. The penalty kept a Houston drive alive and set up a game-winning touchdown for Lamar Miller.

That play is probably why Hopkins says Ramsey didn’t get the job done on third down, but the results were far from definitive. What is for sure is that the pair meeting twice a year is as exciting and fun as any wide receiver vs. cornerback duel in the NFL — even if it’s happening in the AFC South and doesn’t have the brand-name excitement of Josh Norman’s NFC East battles.

And that’s really the concern to have about Ramsey. He’s as headstrong and exciting as it gets, held opposing quarterbacks to a 37.8 passer rating in the last five weeks of the season, and is scheduled to face receivers like Antonio Brown and A.J. Green in 2017. He should be must-watch television.

But as long as the Jaguars keep being ... well ... the Jaguars, he’s easy to ignore.

Nobody hates losing more than Ramsey

Before getting drafted by Jacksonville, Ramsey won a national championship at Florida State as a freshman and the ACC Long Jump Championship as a sophomore. In his three seasons with the Seminoles, the team went a combined 37-4.

He more than doubled that loss total during a nine-game losing streak with the Jaguars that spanned from October until December. Ramsey struggled to deal with it.

Ramsey was ejected in the final minutes of an October loss to the Oakland Raiders for fighting wide receiver Johnny Holton (who was also ejected). A month later, in the final seconds of a loss to the Detroit Lions, Ramsey was seen tearfully telling someone on the Jaguars sideline that he’s “tired of losing.”

Near the end of the season, the Jaguars fired Gus Bradley, who posted a 14-48 record with the team. Ramsey didn’t hold back his complaints about the coach.

"Every week, we ran the same defense," Ramsey said after the team’s Week 17 loss, via ESPN. "We never changed defenses. We never changed plays. What we were running on first down at the beginning of the season we were running on first down at the end of the season. What we were running on second down, third down, same. Nothing ever changed."

Even with those problems — which safety Tashaun Gipson echoed — the Jaguars defense finished No. 6 in yards allowed. After adding Bouye, Calais Campbell, and Barry Church in the offseason, it promises to be even better in 2017.

The question is whether or not the Jaguars offense will be functional enough to make for a competitive Jacksonville team for the first time in about a decade. There’s reason to doubt that.

If the team does, Ramsey — the team’s most exciting player — could become a national star. If the Jaguars extend their streak of non-winning seasons to 10, you should probably take notice of Ramsey anyway.