Jaguars Face Stark Reality Along Defensive Line As Turnover Continues
On Monday, normally affable and verbose Doug Marrone was resigned and short.
In all his years coaching, has the Jacksonville Jaguars head coach ever experienced attrition like the last several years?
“Probably not, no. But—part of the challenge.”
It is indeed a challenge, as the Jags have 10 players on varying reserve lists. Six of them are defensive linemen.
Yannick Ngakoue is a reserve/franchise player but he has also yet to sign his franchise tag tender or appear at 2020 Training Camp due to disagreements over his contract and/or potential trading. Second-year nose tackle Dontavius Russell is currently on the reserve/injured list. Tackle Rodney Gunter and end Aaron Lynch have been placed on the reserve/retired list; the former for a recently discovered heart problem. And two linemen have elected to opt-out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19 concerns: tackle Al Woods and defensive end Lerentee McCray.
This offseason the defensive line was a focus for the Jaguars. The staff knows they need to improve in stopping the run. The Jaguars were 31st in the NFL last season with 5.1 yards per rush allowed. The 23 rushing touchdowns they gave up was also second to last and the six rushes of 40+ yards given up were worst in the league. And so they set out to force an improvement, bringing in Woods, Gunter and Lynch as well as drafting DeVon Hamilton on the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
Now Hamilton and those still in the unit will be facing the task with less rotational depth.
“Stopping the run has been a big focus for us and some of the things that we did, some of the moves that we made, some of those guys aren’t here,” pointed out Marrone.
"So it’s going to put a challenge for us to make sure we find those guys, develop those guys, whichever way we have to do it. I mean, that’s something we have to get done. So we’re continuing to keep working on that.”
“Whichever way we have to do it” would seem to leave the door open for another lineman to be brought in, with the season set to kick off in little less than a month (September 13).
Marrone told reporters that if you thought you could upgrade during camp at positions like lockdown corner, left tackle or pass rusher then “you’re dreaming.” But Jadeveon Clowney is still on the market as a free agent. The longer Ngakoue stays away, the greater that need will become. He was reportedly asking for $20 million and turned down offers from teams for $15M plus. On Sunday, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported Clowney was still asking around $17 million. The Jaguars have just over $16 million in cap space.
But Marrone also is hesitant to make public pleas for additional help on the line. He says constantly looking for outside help can get coaches into trouble and “working in the wrong direction.”
“I think there are certain positions that you can upgrade, but right now, we have an opportunity and I think that if I stand up in front of the team and I say, ‘Ugh we’re done, we can’t stop the run. We’ve got to get players; we’ve got to go out.’ What does that say about the players that are here?" Marrone said.
“We believe the players that are here have the ability to do it. Now it’s just a matter of going out there and them showing us that they can do it. And if they do, then obviously as a coach, you’re going to feel much better about it. I think if you see issues that are going to happen and you don’t want to jump the gun and make those decisions too quickly—that someone can’t do it and not give someone the opportunity, then you’re going to put yourself in trouble there too.
“I know that there will be a lot written about…these plans that they have, have been blown up. But it’s also a great opportunity and a great challenge for these other guys to step up and if you have that happen, that’s great. Especially the young guys.”
Marrone went on to mention Josh Allen, Taven Bryan and Dawuane Smoot specifically as those who will need to make that leap.
As the roster now stands, the Jaguars have on the interior line: Bryan, Abry Jones, Caraun Reid, Timmy Jernigan, Hamilton and Carl Davis. Davis will be suspended for the first four games of the season for a prior infraction. On the ends, the roster currently stands with Allen, Smoot, Cassius Marsh, K’Lavon Chaisson, Adam Gotsis and Josh Mauro. Of those 12, two are rookies and five have been signed in as many weeks. Marsh was signed earlier this offseason.
Even faced with the stark reality that sobered the typically positive Marrone, Allen is taking his head coach’s advice and embracing those that are on the field with him.
“I can’t control anybody’s health or anything. We just have to keep going and hopefully the guys that are behind those guys, the guys that we have here now, just have to play a bigger step in this role,” Allen explained to reporters following Monday’s training camp practice.
"The guys that we bring in to replace those guys, we have to hold them to a higher standard. They have to hold themselves to a higher standard. So right now, we’re just looking to keep playing, keep our heads up high, just do what we can for right now because we can’t control if somebody for health reasons [can’t play] or somebody just is not here. We can’t really help that. I’m going to do what I need to do. Abe’s [Abry Jones] going to do what he needs to do. Taven [Bryan], [Dawuane] Smoot—all those guys are going to do what they need to do. We’re just going to have to ball.”