Jaguars' Star Pass-Rusher Hines-Allen Nearing Top Franchise Record
Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Josh Hines-Allen has made his goals clear before. He wants to be the best defender the Jaguars have ever had.
Hines-Allen, who ranks sixth in the NFL in pressures according to NextGenStats, is now just a few more key rushes away from adding a top honor to his resume for the honor.
Sitting at 51 sacks, Hines-Allen is now just 4.5 sacks away from passing Jaguars legend Tony Brackens for the all-time sack record. With five games left in 2024, Hines-Allen (six sacks in 2024) has a chance to become the franchise leader before his seventh season with the franchise. For context, it took Brackens eight seasons to hit sack No. 55.
And with the playoffs now out of sight for the Jaguars, Hines-Allen knows the sack record is one goal he can set his focus on. Still, wins are the premium for the defensive captain as opposed to his own personal accolade.
"Yeah, for sure, you know. But I want to win, obviously
," Hines-Allen said this week when asked about his focus for the record.
"I want to go home and watch tape and be happy about it. You know, be excited and to be encouraged. You know what I mean, see great tape. Celebrate a win that each individual guy has up front. I want to celebrate those."
With 3.5 sacks in the last five games, Hines-Allen is trending in the right direction to inch closer and closer to the record. And while his sack numbers may be down compared to a year ago, he has been as disruptive as ever from a pressure perspective. When you win as often as he does, the sacks will come.
"Yeah, he's affecting the quarterback. You’re seeing a little bit more power out of him. I think that's the difference in the two years you're seeing. A little bit more power," Jaguars defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen said this week.
"He's a little bit bigger going through the guy instead of so much around him. Then he's still doing a good job in the pass-rush game and things like that. So, his effects are there. It's just the production and getting them down. He's working on it. It's not anything we're stressing out or anything about it because he is affecting the passer.”
For Hines-Allen, his next test will be a rookie left tackle in Tennessee Titans' first-round pick JC Latham, and a young quarterback in Will Levis who has taken plenty of sacks in his time as a starter. But just like any week, Hines-Allen will have to execute his game to ensure he reaches franchise greatness.
"But yeah, like, four sacks. You know, my family knows about it more than me. I had a couple games last year when I had three. So I can't say it's out of the realm," Hines-Allen said.
"But I never had four sacks. Don't know what it feels like to do that in one game, but hopefully speaking to existence. But you know, at the end of the day, man, I just want to go out there and play play for my guys, man and you know, break the record."
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