5 Jaguars Defenders Who Will Benefit From Hiring of Mike Caldwell

Which Jaguars defenders will see a bump from the hiring of Mike Caldwell as defensive coordinator?

The Jacksonville Jaguars' defense is getting a facelift ... kind of. 

After a year where the Jaguars moved to a 3-4 defense under former defensive coordinator Joe Cullen, the Jaguars' defense is set to look a bit different this year as Doug Pederson takes over as head coach and Mike Caldwell takes over as his defensive coordinator. 

While the Jaguars defense will clearly have different terminology and different techniques taught under Caldwell, they will still be an aggressive front that tries to get to the quarterback. As Pederson explained last week, he sees the Jaguars' defensive vision as one that attempts to confuse offenses with a multitude of looks.

"He's kind of been with Todd Bowles, and we know Todd was a head coach, tremendous coordinator in this league, the things that Mike has always kind of been in the linebacker room, and the structure of defense that we play and the majority of the guys in the NFL play, it fits what we do," Pederson said. 

"It's an aggressive mindset, and those are the conversations that Mike and I have had is we want to maintain the aggressiveness, we want to be able to put our players in position to make plays. Moving a Josh Allen around, moving a Chaisson, moving these guys around, moving safeties around, other backers. Really presenting a picture to the offense where maybe you don't know where the blitz is coming from. You kind of watch what Tampa Bay did this year and the success they had on defense. But again, it takes players, too, and we understand that."

So with the Jaguars now moving forward with a new defensive structure under Caldwell and Pederson's defensive staff, which players could be expected to potentially take a leap and benefit from the new staff?

LB Myles Jack

This one is the most obvious for a few reasons. After Myles Jack struggled for large parts of the 2021 season in Cullen's defensive line-centric defense, Jack will now be playing for a coordinator in Caldwell who see things from a much different perspective. That isn't a knock on Cullen, but the fact that Cullen wanted Jack to start the year with the green dot after the Joe Schobert trade shows why he may not have been the best coach for Jack's skill set. 

Caldwell, however, knows the linebacker position like the back of his hand. He has not only been coaching the position for the past decade with plenty of success, but he also spent over a decade in the NFL playing as a linebacker. For the first time in his NFL career, Jack will have a coordinator who will be able to see things exactly through the same lenses and viewpoint. That alone is good news for Jack. 

DL Roy Robertson-Harris

One of the more versatile defensive linemen on Jacksonville's roster, Roy Robertson-Harris had some encouraging flashes during the 2021 season. He was at his best as an upfield penetrator who could cause wreckage on passing downs and use his explosion to play behind the line of scrimmage as a run defender. He should be expected to play a similar role in 2022 that he did in 2021, too, which is a good sign for a free agent addition the Jaguars need to see produce.

As a defender who has played in 3-4 defenses his whole career, it is good news for Robertson-Harris that the Jaguars won't force him into a role that doesn't fit his skill set. While Caldwell shouldn't be expected to run the exact same scheme that Todd Bowles ran, Bowles' defenses prioritized long and athletic defensive linemen up front, and Robertson-Harris fits that to a tee. 

S Andre Cisco 

One player who I think could benefit from a new system is Andre Cisco. The third-round draft pick only started three games as he mostly sat behind Andrew Wingard and Rayshawn Jenkins, but he flashed immense potential and talent in his limited action, forcing two fumbles and nearly recording an interception in his first start in Week 16. With a defense that should make the safeties a bit more important in terms of responsibility, that is good news for Cisco.

👌🏾 Jus wait. https://t.co/rCnGKpfevy

— Dre Cisco (@andrecisco7) February 21, 2022

The Jaguars' defense mostly had its safeties play simple roles last season. One safety would either play man coverage in the slot or a robber technique underneath while the other would patrol the deep portion of the field. With Caldwell, however, I do think there is reason to believe this changes and we see a bit more blitzing and overall versatility from the safety spot, which would bode well for a natural playmaker like Cisco.

EDGEs Dawuane Smoot and Josh Allen

K'Lavon Chaisson could classify here as well, but the general point is that Caldwell's scheme and hiring is good news for the top edge rushers on Jacksonville's defense, especially Josh Allen and Dawuane Smoot. The Jaguars had the right idea in the scheme change last year, with a 3-4 fitting their overall edge room much more so than the 4-3 they ran in past seasons. And with Caldwell's hiring, this theme repeats. 

"If you've got a guy that has this skill set that does this real well, let him do this. If he's better going forward, let him go forward. If he needs to go back, we'll let him go back with every blue moon," Caldwell said last week. "But if he's going forward, let him get after the quarterback and let him go."

That quote enough is reason to be excited for Allen and Smoot, two pass-rushers who are at their best moving forward and attacking offensive lines. The duo had a solid ending to their 2021 seasons and should be excited that they won't have to go back to having their hands in the dirt on every down in 2022.