Jaguars' Linebacker Thriving In New Defense

Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Devin Lloyd is having a big Year 3.

Sep 15, 2024; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Devin Lloyd (33) breaks up a pass against the Cleveland Browns wide receiver Elijah Moore (8) in the third quarter at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Reper-Imagn Images / Jeremy Reper-Imagn Images

The Jacksonville Jaguars are off to a slow start as a team in 2024, but it doesn't mean breakout performances haven't revealed themselves.

Among the most impressive through two weeks has been third-year linebacker Devin Lloyd, who has become one of the defense's most impactful players under new defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen.

Lloyd has moved to middle linebacker this season after playing weakside linebacker in each of the last two seasons, and it seems to have unlocked the potential of the 2022 first-round pick out of Utah.

Through two games, Lloyd is second on the team in stops according to NextGenStats, behind only star linebacker Foyesade Oluokun. Lloyd has also graded out as one of the NFL's top linebackers this season in Pro Football Focus' database after seeing his grade leap from 2022 to 2023.

Devin Lloyd among LBs this season:

🐆 90.4 PFF grade (2nd)
🐆 89.9 coverage grade (2nd)
🐆 83.0 run defense grade (T-6th) pic.twitter.com/XLfVxNYGFH

— PFF JAX Jaguars (@PFF_Jaguars) September 19, 2024

"Devin’s doing good. We're playing a little bit more in the middle, which is he’s in the box, he’s coming downhill, he’s a physical player, good in coverage," Nielsen said this week.

"I’ll tell you, one of the things, and this was kind of one of his deals, is he has a lot of ball production in the passing game. There are a lot of PBUs and tipped balls and altered passes because he’s around where the catch point is, or he’s rushing and then he gets a hand up and things like that. He is affecting the ball disruption.”

The next step for Lloyd and for the rest of the Jaguars' defense in general? Begin forcing takeaways, which Lloyd thrived doing over the last two years. Lloyd has shown flashes of doing the same this year as well, recording his first career forced fumble in Week 2.

"I’ll tell you; we had the ball on the goal line last week, the ball popped out and Devin made a heck of a play," Nielsen said.

"We’ve just got to get off the block sometimes, timing, being in the right spot at the right time, that would’ve been a huge play in the game, right? So, we’re working on it. It's been a point of emphasis, it's a point of emphasis every single week, every single day."

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