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Michael DiRocco, ESPN Staff Writer
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — There were multiple reasons why the Jacksonville Jaguars won just three of nine games to finish the 2023 season, a collapse that cost them a playoff spot. But the reason that bothered general manager Trent Baalke the most was the ineffectiveness along the line of scrimmage.
Both the run game and the run defense fell significantly over the final six weeks of the season. Jaguars running backs ran for 26.5 fewer yards per game, and the defense gave up 44.4 more rushing yards per game in Weeks 13-18 than it did in Weeks 1-12.
Baalke’s focus on strengthening the offensive and defensive lines was the team’s No. 1 priority this offseason. And as the Jaguars head into the OTAs (that begin May 20), it looks like — on paper, at least — they have done that.
On the offensive line, Jacksonville signed Pro Bowl center Mitch Morse — a nine-year starter for the Bills and Chiefs — to replace a struggling Luke Fortner. While Fortner ranked 31st in pass block win rate (87.9%) last season, Morse ranked 14th (93%) — an obvious upgrade. Morse also didn’t allow a sack last season, while Fortner allowed 4.5, per NFL Next Gen Stats. For depth, the Jaguars drafted offensive tackle Javon Foster (Missouri) in the fourth round.
On defense, they signed former 49ers defensive tackle Arik Armstead and drafted defensive tackles Maason Smith (second round) and Jordan Jefferson (fourth round) out of LSU.
Armstead is one of the NFL’s best defensive linemen when healthy, and he’ll start alongside nose tackle DaVon Hamilton. Armstead also provides an interior pass-rush presence (five sacks and 20 QB pressures in 12 games last season, and 33.5 career sacks) that will ease the burden off edge rushers Josh Allen and Travon Walker.
Smith mostly lined up as a three-technique tackle (46% of his snaps) last season at LSU, and his 20 pressures when lined up as a defensive tackle in 2023 were the second most in the SEC, per ESPN Stats & Information. His 84 5/8-inch wingspan was the biggest of any defensive tackle at the scouting combine, and he was clocked at a fastest speed of 19.2 mph last season. He’ll play multiple spots in the tackle rotation.
Though he has played at multiple spots in his career at West Virginia and LSU, Jefferson will play nose tackle for the Jaguars, according to Baalke. Jefferson was one of the strongest players at the combine: His 34 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press were the second most of any player, behind only Arkansas center Beaux Limmer (39).
“We’ve got to get bigger. We’ve got to get stronger,” Baalke said at his end-of-season news conference. “We’ve got to get more physical in the trenches. If you want to compete for championships you have to do that. I think we’ve got some good pieces in there [and] we have some good, young players in there but we have to get better.”
The Jaguars have also been busy in other areas trying to improve and build depth as they head into the 2024 season. Here are three more takeaways from the Jaguars’ offseason so far.
Pass-rush depth
While the Jaguars took care of business by signing Allen to a five-year contract extension well before the NFL draft, finding edge rusher depth was still a need.
The Jaguars didn’t draft an edge rusher until the seventh round, when they selected Texas Tech’s Myles Cole with the 236th overall pick. And Baalke thinks Cole needs some work, so it could be at least one season before he has a chance to get on the field on any kind of regular basis.
That leaves Trevis Gipson, whom the team signed in March, as the clear No. 3 pass-rusher. He has 11 sacks in his career, yet seven of those came in 2021. Next is second-year player Yasir Abdullah, who tallied 45 snaps in 2023. The Jaguars opted not to re-sign Dawuane Smoot (23.5 sacks in seven seasons with the team) and 2020 first-rounder K’Lavon Chaisson (five sacks in 57 games).
If Jacksonville wants to add another rusher between now and the start of the season, there are options. Bud Dupree (53 career sacks), Yannick Ngakoue (69), Shaq Lawson (26), Carl Lawson (27) and Bruce Irvin (56.5) are free agents, though all except Ngakoue and Carl Lawson will be 30 or older when the 2024 season starts. Would any be amenable to a reduced role as the third or fourth edge rusher in the rotation?
The Jaguars have the third-most salary cap space available ($35.26 million), per Roster Management System. Would they use some of that money on an aging player to add depth to the position?
At this point, it looks like the Jaguars are content to go with Allen (17.5 sacks in 2023), Walker (10 sacks in 2023) and Gipson (one sack in eight games in 2023) as their main edge rushers.
Secondary shuffle
The Jaguars didn’t do a complete overhaul of their secondary, but they made significant changes that they believe will provide an upgrade from what they put on the field in 2023. There are four new players — including two draft picks — expected to play key roles, including at two starting spots after the releases of cornerback Darious Williams and safety Rayshawn Jenkins earlier this spring.
The two returning starters are cornerback Tyson Campbell and safety Andre Cisco, but their future in those roles beyond this season isn’t clear. Both are entering the final year of their rookie contract and neither has played consistently at a high enough level to be considered a no-brainer for an extension.
After those two, however, it’s wait-and-see on how new defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen puts the pieces together.
The Jaguars signed safety Darnell Savage Jr. in March, but coach Doug Pederson said at the owners meetings that Savage would start out as the team’s nickelback. Savage played there at times in Green Bay, so it’s not an unfamiliar spot for him, but the Jaguars drafted Jarrian Jones in the third round and view him also as a nickelback (he primarily played there at Florida State) who can play outside.
Veteran journeyman Ronald Darby is set to be the starter at the other cornerback spot, but he has battled injuries throughout his nine-year career and played a full season just once (2020). Jones could move outside if Darby goes down with an injury, but so could fifth-round pick Deantre Prince, who also will get a look at nickelback.
Depending on the look Nielsen wants, second-year player Antonio Johnson or Savage could start at safety next to Cisco. Johnson saw work as a big nickel at times last season and he could also get time there in 2024 as well.
The Jaguars allowed 18 passing touchdowns to wide receivers in 2023 (fifth most in the NFL) and cornerbacks accounted for only six of the team’s 16 interceptions (Williams had four). An upgrade was needed, and while the Jaguars didn’t opt for a cornerback in the first round when Alabama’s Terrion Arnold was available when they picked 23rd, Baalke and Pederson are confident that Nielsen can put the puzzle together to improve in the secondary in 2024.
“Ryan and his staff, we’ve had a very good dialogue,” Baalke said. “We’ve spent a lot of time when he first got here going through exactly what he was looking for at the different positions. How we were going to play the corners in this scheme versus how we played them in the past, how the linebackers are going to fit and how we were going to get the Sam linebacker position filled from within. So we had a lot of great dialogue and it’s been fun to learn what he’s looking for in players.”
OT succession plan
The draft allows teams to replenish depth at key positions that are primed for turnover. Offensive tackle was one of those positions.
Left tackle Cam Robinson and swing tackle Walker Little are both entering the final year of their contracts, which leaves second-year right tackle Anton Harrison the only offensive tackle with significant starting experience on the roster. Harrison played every snap as a rookie after starting just one game at right tackle in his career at Oklahoma.
Robinson has started 84 games in seven seasons with the Jaguars but hasn’t played a full season since 2020. He’s due to make $16.25 million in 2024 and the Jaguars are unlikely to re-sign him for that kind of money.
Little has started 17 regular-season games in three seasons (13 at left tackle and four at left guard). It’s unclear at this point if the Jaguars are interested in bringing him back to be a starter in 2025.
Now they welcome fourth-rounder Foster to the group. He was Missouri’s starting left tackle for the past three seasons and a third-team All-American and first-team All-SEC selection in 2023.
“You start him out in a swing position,” Baalke said. “That’s for the coaches to settle in on what his role is going to be. But really like the size, the length, two-time captain, leader in the SEC, 31-game starter. A lot of things that played into the pick.”
If they like what they see, however, the Jaguars could opt to not re-sign Robinson or Little and go with Foster as a starter at either tackle spot in 2025, depending on where the team thinks Harrison’s best spot would be.