Jaguars Defensive Overhaul from Training Camp (What you don’t see behind the highlights)

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Jacksonville, FL. – For the past 4 days I’ve gotten up bright and early to show up for the Jacksonville Jaguars training camp. I’ve had the privilege of analyzing every drill the team has done and every single snap of 7v7 and 11v11 scrimmages. In this article I’m going to discuss how just about every defensive player has performed thus far in training camp.

To start off, I’d like to look into arguably the most important position on defense, the edge rushers. Josh Hines-Allen is the leader of this defense and clearly is going to continue his dominance. His offseason work is apparent, being in the best shape of his life. He’s been nothing short of exemplary so far with refined quick fundamentals, ideal strength, and fantastic use of hands. He’s put his skills on display evidently in 11v11 beating Cam Robinson off the snap practically every rep. Forcing Trevor out of the pocket and stopping the run game in its tracks every snap has payed massive dues to the defense in training thus far as JHA looks has set his eyes on being Defensive Player of the Year and a Super Bowl champion.

Opposite of Josh, former 1st overall pick Travon Walker has put in impressive work this offseason looking much bigger and showing his strength effortlessly throwing around the sleds. Last season the pair of Josh and Travon led the entire league in sacks for a duo with 27.5. The two of them clearly want to keep that title, both looking more imposing than ever. Walker has also grown as a player capable of dropping into coverage, intercepting Trevor Lawrence in 11 on 11 drills. This year will be an essential one for Walker entering his 3rd season, still working to prove he was worth the 1st overall selection in 2022.

As for the depth at edge rusher, thus far it’s been lackluster. The 2nd and 3rd team aren’t having much success against the backup OTs, especially Walker Little who has proven to be impenetrable so far. Yasir Abdullah, Myles Cole, and DeShaan Dixon I project to be the depth pass rushers however, standing out more than the others in basic drills with their quickness and fundamentals.

As of the big boys between the edge rushers, the interior defensive line unit has looked like the best the Jaguars have had since 2017. Leading off that unit is Arik Armstead who hasn’t participated much due to being on the PUP list, he looks JACKED though, having an athletic 6’7 pass rushing defensive tackle in between Josh and Walker will prove to be game changing for the defense.

Veterans Roy Robertson-Harris and DaVon Hamilton have been performing well and should be reliable guys in the middle of our defense, whom especially thrive against the run. D-Ham has certainly done a lot of work this offseason coming a long ways to recover from his spinal abscess developed last year during preseason. Both Hamilton and Roy are certain to have an impact on the team right away.

The player I’m most excited to see from this entire front 7 is none other than 2nd round rookie Masson Smith. The physically gifted big man was labeled as a draft bust out of the gate being selected with the 48th pick, due to his injury history at LSU keeping him off the field. In spite of the negative comments Maason has put all the work in, believes in himself to stay healthy, and has certainly shown out at camp. The 6’6, 315 defensive tackle has been a bulldozer in 11 on 11s powering through double blocks. He’s found a way to create pressure just about every snap whether it’s himself fighting through the line or pushing back his blockers into the backfield opening up space for the rest of the rush. Overall, Masson is a player to watch this season and has made a huge impact so far.

Now for the quarterbacks of the defense, the linebackers. As far as Mike linebackers go, Foye Oluokun and Devin Lloyd will be in the debate for the best duo in the league. Foye may be the best tackler in the NFL flying from sideline to sideline to wrap people up as efficiently as you could ask for, leading the league in solo tackles the past 2 seasons. Lloyd is one of the most versatile linebackers in the league; gaining size in the offseason to be used more as a blitzer, while already having proved his worth in coverage and as a strong tackler. I’m looking for Lloyd to have the best season of his career yet at the center of what’s shown to be a much improved defense under new coordinator Ryan Nielsen. 

Behind the esteemed duo though, Caleb Johnson has performed relatively well in team drills coming away with an interception on Mac Jones as well as a handful of pass breakups. Caleb has been one of the better special teamers for the Jaguars in recent years, so he likely has locked up a roster slot. As of the other depth, Chad Muma and Ventrell Miller haven’t performed up to the level you seek, playing too soft in zone coverage allowing for a successful checkdown nearly every play. Muma and Miller should be able to display their strengths more when pads go on and practices are more physical.

We absolutely have to talk about what’s been the overall most impressive unit for Jacksonville throughout training camp, the cornerbacks. To lead off we must discuss the newly paid corner, Tyson Campbell, who received a 4 year 76.5 million dollar deal making him the 7th highest paid corner in the league. Many were quick to label this signing as an overpay since he’s never been a stand out headline name and he dealt with injuries last season. Tyson was clearly ready to prove he’s worth the contract though playing simply perfect in coverage at camp. He has allowed little to no separation no matter who’s lined up against him between Christian Kirk, Evan Engram, Gabe Davis, or most commonly Brian Thomas Jr. and he is yet to allow a single catch. Tyson has looked refined in drills with so far absolutely no flaws to his game, Campbell is more than ready to prove his haters wrong.

Other than Campbell this was a unit I had some hopes for, but mostly questions. Last year Jacksonville’s secondary was a liability and to make matters worse, they lost cornerbacks Darious Williams and Tre Herndon to free agency. In place of Darious the Jaguars got cheaper bringing in Ronald Darby for a STEAL of a deal, only paying the veteran 4.25 million per year over the next 2 seasons. Then to address the hole in the slot the absence of Tre left, they drafted Jarrian Jones out of FSU in the 3rd round and signed Darnell Savage to a 3 year 21.75 million dollar deal.

Ronald Darby so far has played extremely well, especially in press getting physical with Gabe Davis and Brian Thomas Jr. forcing an interception while covering each of them. Darby brings much needed experience, leadership, and consistency to the outside corner spot opposite of Tyson. 

Jarrian Jones has also impressed massively right from the gate being targetted 3 times on the first day of camp and forcing 3 pass breakups. Jarrian has shown his flexibility to play outside or in the slot at an extremely high level with great game knowledge and crystal fundamentals. From what I’ve seen I expect Jarrian to get starting reps very early in his career and make a very large impact on the Jaguars defense for years to come. 

Darnell Savage has looked decent so far, and his speed certainly stands out as he flies across the sidelines. He has a ton of upside and versatility for the Jaguars, but injuries have plagued his career thusfar and is already keeping him limited for the Jaguars this year. I’m intrigued to see if he can have a resurgance in Jacksonville, but there’s a lot more for him to show.

As of the depth at corner, Montaric “Buster” Brown has looked refined in basic drills, and will likely be the 5th corner on the roster as he’s played well when thrust into action due to injuries before. Gregory Junior has also played decent, actually getting quite a few 1st team reps so far in the slot when Darnell Savage is sidelined. No one else at the position has separated themselves enough to be noteworthy. 

Finally, in the back of the secondary there has been plenty of success by the safety unit in camp. The biggest name of that group being number 5, Andre Cisco. Cisco has so far had a spectacular camp, just a level below respective teammate Tyson Campbell. 5 rarely even gets thrown towards so far in team drills, but has already forced 2 interceptions on Trevor Lawrence when he is targetted, one of them being a long pick 6. Cisco has been a turnover machine in the past with the ability to jump routes for picks and lay the lumber for fumbles, and he’s kept that up in training. He’s looking for a breakout season on a contract year and so far it’s looking like that will be the reality.

Other than Cisco there have certainly been some strong performances. Maybe the biggest surprise of camp so far has been Andrew “Dewey” Wingard who’s forced 3 interceptions on Trevor Lawrence so far while covering Christian Kirk and Evan Engram. Dewey has historically been primarily a special teamer and sub in safety on running downs due to his strong tackling, however it seems like he’s expanded his skillset in coverage far past what I was anticipating. Dewey I automatically believed would be nothing more than depth, but he’s put on an extremely impressive argument to be the starting safety opposite of Cisco.

The guy Dewey is competing with has been no slouch himself though, that being 2nd year safety Antonio Johnson. ANT hasn’t gotten the turnovers Dewey has so far in camp, but has been extremely reliable in coverage nonetheless. Johnson has special fluidity and athleticism for the position which Dewey lacks, paired with his upside and age makes for a strong debate to let ANT develop as a starter alongside Andre for the long term. This is a fantastic problem for the Jaguars to have though as they’re sitting on three very good safeties with extremely vast skillsets. 

In summary, the defense overall as a unit has performed exceptionally so far and that’s largely due to the addition of Ryan Nielsen as the new defensive coordinator. Ryan is truly getting the absolute best out of all of his guys and it’s been special to watch just how his men follow his lead. There are many stars on this defense, but the most surprising performances to me so far have been Andrew Wingard and rookies Maason Smith and Jarrian Jones.