Did Ryan Nielsen Reveal the Jaguars' Need For Secondary Help?

Did one of Ryan Nielsen's comments about winning on third down tip the Jaguars' hand in terms of identifying cornerback as a need?

Jacksonville Jaguars defensive coordinator more or less held things close to the vest during his introductory press conference on Thursday, but there was one moment where he gave a revealing answer. 

It came with the second-to-last question of the afternoon. Nielsen was asked about his core principles on third-downs. Nielsen spoke about most of the expected things: coverage and pass-rush working together, using disguise, throwing different things at the offense, etc. 

But he did make a few specific points that could potentially show an area he believes the defense needs to improve in: the secondary. 

“Rush and coverage. We have to be multiple, the first thing we have to do is affect the quarterback in that we can’t allow the ball to come out of his hand quickly, then the rush doesn’t get there. If the coverage has holes in it or give an easy throw, it doesn’t matter who we’ve got coming off the edge. We’ve got a couple of good edge guys here. We have to get the quarterback to hold it," Nielsen said. 

In short, Nielsen isn't worried about the Jaguars' edge rush duo of Josh Allen and Travon Walker. After 27.5 combined sacks in 2023, he shouldn't be. But he did seem to point out that coverage is immensely vital to what he is trying to accomplish, and is perhaps one area the Jaguars need to improve this offseason. 

Several of the Jaguars' biggest losses last year showed them struggling in exactly this scenario: the Bengals, Buccaneers and Browns losses specifically. The Jaguars played soft zone coverage at a higher clip than most defenses. Even with a dominant pass-rusher like Allen, the Jaguars saw multiple backup or journeyman quarterback shred their defense in 2023. And coverage issues were arguably the biggest part of this. 

The Jaguars have a good duo of starting cornerbacks in Tyson Campbell and Darious Williams, though both are entering contract seasons. Starting nickel cornerback Tre Herndon will be a free-agent in March, and the Jaguars have limited established talent on their cornerback depth chart.

This is one area Nielsen has a chance to make a potentially game-changing impact. The Jaguars' front and secondary haven't been in sync since the 2018 season. If the Jaguars and Nielsen can solve that, then they could be a force to reckon with defensively sooner than later.

"Disguise is big, we’ve got multiple packages on third downs so we change week to week or maybe we don’t, so keep them guessing. Really big early in the game, we try to go out there and they’re trying to identify what we’re doing on third down, then go from there," Nielsen said. 

"Not, ‘Hey, we’re going to be in this look and every single time we’re going to be able to make this throw.’ We’ve got to be multiple and keep changing. They’re just too good on offense, the quarterbacks are too good, offensive coordinators, there’s so many guys over there that can identify. That’s what we’ve got to keep it multiple and keep changing up the looks.”