How Concerned Should Jaguars Be With Position Group?

The Jacksonville Jaguars are running a little thin for edge rushers. How concerned should they be?

Aug 23, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson on the sidelines during the game agains the Atlanta Falcons during the first half at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports / Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

The Jacksonville Jaguars are satisfied with many of their position groups. Quarterback room has Trevor Lawrence. That one's easy. A talented wide receiver group with Christan Kirk, rookie Brian Thomas Jr., and Gabe Davis. Tight end room led by Evan Engram, one of the league's best.

Defensively, Foyesade Oluokun and Devin Lloyd lead what might be one of the best linebacker rooms in the NFL. The secondary is more than solid. The defensive line will be better than it has been in years, but that hasn't assuaged the fear from some Jacksonville faithful.

SB Nation recently took a survey out on how worried Jaguars fans were worried about the team's edge depth. 31 percent answered "Worried" and 23 percent answered "Very Worried." The amount that participated was undisclosed, so the survey should be taken with a grain of salt.

That being said -- it brings up the interesting question: how worried should the Jaguars be?

For the singular position of defensive end, perhaps a little. Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker are the neon names, obviously. Hines-Allen is one of the best the NFL has to offer, and Walker has loads of potential despite failing to live up to it this season.

But this is where the silver linings come in. Defensive coordinator Ryan Nielson was one of the best moves the Jaguars made this offseason. He will be a Day 1 game changer as defensive coordinator. Part of Nielson's strategy is having an a defensive interior stacked with depth.

That way, he can minimize the lack of depth on the edges. The modern NFL calls for interior defensive lineman to make an impact in the pass rush. This works in Nielson's favor.

"We've got some good, really interior players, but then some guys that can flex out and play out on the end. Different personnel groups and packages and things like that. So, it allows you the flexibility of maybe getting a little bit bigger in times when we need it," Nielson said recently.

That depth also allows for a strong rotation of players, which will allow for more looks and keep fresh players on the field.

"We want to keep them fresh, right? And keep them on a rotation where the guys are fresh into the fourth quarter. When you do that, it's instead of playing their 40th play, maybe they're at their 20th play. So, now they're ready to go in the fourth," Nielson said. "That's when the game's on the line, you’ve got to win it. So, yeah, we want to rotate. It's going to be the same as. But there's some of that, when we rotate, who's got the hot hand and all that stuff kind of fits in the personnel groupings and packages that we have. That also fits in there too. But we’ve got a good group and they’ll order to -- some guys can, and we talked a little bit earlier, flex positions, things like that, and keep them fresh into the fourth quarter.”

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