What Positions Should Be Addressed on the Jaguars Defense After The Season?

Despite Concerns, The Jaguars Defense Will Continue To Grow Towards Its Ceiling

Early on in the month after a blowout loss to Detroit, it was an often critique to hear fans and analysts go after Trent Baalke's investments on defense. Undoubtedly, the Jaguars have focused a lot of resources onto the defensive side of the ball over the last few years and in spite of those investments, the Jaguars have found more success on offense this year. However, things aren't all doom and gloom as the Jaguars defense has shown the ability to force turnovers and clearly has plenty of room to grow with a young core of players.

While the pass rush has been pretty lackluster for the majority of the season, the Jaguars are locked into their young players on the edges for at least another year. I wouldn't take that as a bad thing either, although Josh Allen and Travon Walker haven't had big seasons I do believe that group should breakout either late this season or more likely next year. Those chances should shoot up significantly if the Jaguars are able to land a big name on the interior of the defensive line which has clearly been a weakness in the pass rush.

At the second level of the defense, the Jaguars feature a room full of youth with the primary veteran presence being in NFL leading tackler Foye Oluokun. He's been one of the best additions to the Jaguars this year and there should be no doubt he'll continue to improve as the rookies get more comfortable and Oluokun continues to put in snaps with this system. The Jaguars have an extremely high ceiling at linebacker with Devin Lloyd and Chad Muma developing into key players in this league.

The secondary has went from being a mixed bag of results to featuring one clear deficiency that's held them back. Early on this year, the Jaguars couldn't find a solution at outside corner opposite of Tyson Campbell. Shaquill Griffin had been a massive disappointment in his second year and the Jacksonville refused to move Darious Williams back outside. However, when they finally tried that he quickly became one of the better players on defense with great performances over those few weeks at the position.

At safety, both Andre Cisco and Rayshawn Jenkins have evolved into good starters who can force turnovers on the field. Fans and analysts believed that Cisco would reach that level this year, but Jenkins was a bit of a surprise after a somewhat lackluster season in 2021. The point with all this is that the Jaguars clearly have answers at those spots, but where they are clearly lost is at nickel corner. Herndon, who played on the outside as a backup to start the year, has been extremely hit or miss with far more misses. Over his three games in the slot, he's allowed 14/18 on 135 snaps for 158 yards and a touchdown.

Several Players Could Be On The Chopping Block To Get Under The Cap

In my opinion, there are four players who have contracts extending past this year on the defense that could be leaving Jacksonville next year. There are three that could be released which include Shaquill Griffin, Roy Robertson-Harris, and Rayshawn Jenkins. In addition, I could see the Jaguars sending off K'Lavon Chaisson for a late round pick to shore up some cap space.

Shaquill Griffin and Roy Robertson-Harris are virtually locks to be released next season. Releasing Griffin would save $13.5M against the cap while Robertson-Harris would free up $7.8M. For the production that's been on the field, there's just simply no way those contracts can be justified when the team is already well over the cap. What must be factored in as well is that the Jaguars aren't just a few million over, but they're roughly $15M past the cap after the addition of Calvin Ridley.

With Rayshawn Jenkins having two years left on his contract and his breakout performances recently, I think it's more likely they would restructure him to save money for this season. The Jaguars need to create more cap space, but releasing Jenkins involves too much dead cap which makes pushing that cap to 2024 the best option.

In regards to K'Lavon Chaisson, it's clear that he's not worked out as a draft pick which could make him a trade option. Straight up releasing him won't save any cap, so if they can send him off for a late round pick, even if conditional, they could clear up $2.4M against the cap.

The Jaguars will have a few rotational players to consider bringing back after this season. Dawuane Smoot, Arden Key, and Andrew Wingard are all set to hit free agency, so this front office will need to consider if there's room to bring them back on good deals. I would almost lock Wingard as someone who will be resigned, but I also expect one of the others to be brought back on a backloaded two-year deal.

Before and After Any Cap Moves, Interior Pass Rush And Nickel Corner Reign Supreme As Biggest Needs

Of all the players who are likely gone from the Jaguars this offseason, there's arguably one or two that play a significant role on the defense right now. What's pretty much undoubtable is that there are no answers on the roster right now for a balanced interior pass rusher and a nickel corner. Addressing both of these positions properly would arguably transform what's been a respectable but flawed defense into one of the best units in the league.

Earlier on in this article I talked about the issues at nickel corner, so I'll keep it short in discussing that position again. What I mainly want to say is that we shouldn't underestimate the factor that a nickel corner plays. Although it's not viewed as a starting position, Tre Herndon has logged 133 snaps at nickel while Darious Williams has logged 180 on the outside. With Williams playing on essentially every down, that means the Jaguars are using a nickel corner on nearly 75% of their defensive snaps. That shouldn't be viewed as a rotational role.

Although the Jaguars could argue they have answers on the interior to rushing and passing downs, those players are mostly one-dimensional. Fatukasi and Hamilton have found their success predominantly against the run while many of the other players have specialized in the pass rush, even if they haven't found much success. Roy Robertson-Harris would arguably be the most balanced player on the interior, but it's unlikely he returns as I talked about.

If the Jaguars are able to bring in a balanced interior pass rusher who can stop the run effectively, that helps disguise what the Jaguars are planning to do on defense while also presenting another threat against the passing game. Without interior pressure, quarterbacks can often step up if edge rushers are able to break around the outside. Another simple way to view this is that when you add good defensive players, they'll elevate the players around them. With Allen and Walker desperately needing to break out, it would be a fantastic move to add a dominant force in the middle.

As for how the Jaguars should address this, I strongly believe the Jaguars should put together enough cap space to pursue a top free agent for the interior of the defensive line and find a nickel corner in the draft. Of all the names that could be available this offseason, Javon Hargrave is the one that appeals the most. He's arguably been the third best interior defensive lineman in the NFL and if he were available would transform the defensive line instantly. With lots of cap space and moves available to be made after this next offseason, the Jaguars could easily backload his contract to bring him on this season.

I argue for the defensive line being addressed in free agency in part because it could use a veteran presence, but it's a different story at nickel. The Jaguars already have several veteran players at the position and could afford to address the position with youth. With where the Jaguars are likely to be slated in the draft, I would strongly consider picking up someone like Brian Branch. I mocked him to the Jaguars in our last mock draft and believe he would play a big role while being a great fit with the players already in house.

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