Jacksonville Jaguars coach Doug Pederson met with reporters in Orlando, Fla. on Monday morning at the NFL’s annual spring meeting.
The “coaches breakfast” was the first opportunity for reporters to ask the Jaguars coach about the moves made by the team so far in March. And there’s been no shortage of them. In free agency, the Jaguars made several additions, including defensive lineman Arik Armstead, wide receiver Gabriel Davis, and defensive backs Ronald Darby and Darnell Savage, among others.
So where will all the new pieces fit into the Jaguars’ lineup? And what still needs to be addressed by the Jaguars with the 2024 NFL draft now just a month away?
Here are the x most important pieces of insight from Pederson’s comments on Monday:
Darnell Savage is expected to start at nickel
More than half of Savage’s snaps in 2023 (429 of 701) were at the free safety position in Green Bay, per PFF. The Jaguars don’t envision the former first-round pick slotting in to the void left by Rayshawn Jenkins’ departure, though.
“His nickel coverage ability inside, his ability to blitz, he’s a good tackler, he’s a willing tackler, he’s a pretty cover guy, all things that we were looking for at that position,” Pederson said of Savage on Monday. “He’s got the versatility to play multiple spots on defense. He does give you that safety flex if you want to do it, he can play that nickel spot if you want to move him in there.”
Later, Pederson said that the team currently envisions 2023 fifth-round pick Antonio Johnson stepping into the starting lineup at safety and he said that Savage is currently the favorite to start as the starting nickel cornerback.
The Jaguars' base defense will have four defensive linemen
It’s not particularly revelatory, but Pederson confirmed what most already believed: the Jaguars will be a 4-3 defense (or more like a 4-2) under new defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen.
“Ryan’s scheme is a little more four-down [defensive linemen],” Pederson said. “and “Look, you’re playing 75-plus percent away of nickel defense. You’re always going to be in four-down fronts and you’re always going to play with a nickel whether it’s a normal nickel or a big nickel as a third safety as teams want to call it sometimes. But it’s all a part of what Ryan wants to do and what he wants to get accomplished.”
The line will presumably start Josh Allen and Travon Walker at defensive end with Armstead, DaVon Hamilton, and Roy Robertson-Harris rotating inside at tackle.
Run blocking is the area most in need of improvement
The Jaguars’ passing offense was far from smooth during the 2023 season with Trevor Lawrence taking a step in the wrong direction, statistically. Pederson says the team’s inability to run played a big factor in that.
“The biggest thing for us is that we do have to get better in the run game,” Pederson said. “That’s a given, even as well as [Travis Etienne Jr.], he was a 1,000-yard rusher last year. We still have to get better. There’s still more on the table. That helps your quarterback. You’ve got to be able to run the ball in this league as well. It sets up a lot of different things for you. So that’s something as a staff we’ve been focused on this offseason. You know we feel like we’re a pretty good passing team overall.”
Jacksonville added former Bills center Mitch Morse in free agency, who is expected to replace Luke Fortner in the starting lineup.
Jaguars wanted players who "have been there, done that"
In free agency, the Jaguars’ first moves were to add players who most recently suited up for the Bills, 49ers, Packers, and Ravens. All four of those teams were in the playoffs last season, which was no coincidence.
“This is the culture that I want to establish in Jacksonville,” Pederson said. “These guys have been captains on their teams and they’ve been to Super Bowls, they’ve been to AFC championship games. These guys know how to win and that’s the influx of talent that we want to bring onto our young roster. Guys that have been there, done that. … You’ve got to have that confidence and that swagger that you’re going to get the job done on game day.”
Armstead, Davis, and Morse were all captains for their former teams last season.
Wide receiver doesn't sound like a high priority
No coach wants to lay their draft plans bare in the last month before they go on the clock, so all comments are to be taken with a grain of salt. But Pederson sure didn’t sound like a coach who feels like he needs a No. 1 receiver to fill the void left by Calvin Ridley.
“We feel like we're a pretty good passing team overall. We're right around a top 10 passing offense and we can improve there,” Pederson said. “The injuries affected us late in the season when Christian [Kirk] missed his five games and Zay [Jones] wasn't healthy every week.”
While the Jaguars could save some salary cap space by releasing Jones, that really only makes sense if they envision pushing him down to No. 4 on the depth chart behind Kirk, Davis, and a newcomer. That doesn’t sound like the plan, though. In his comments about Davis, Pederson made it sound like they envision working with the group already on the roster.
“[We’re really looking forward to getting him in there and seeing how he does fit with Christian and Zay and even Devin Duvernay now, getting him in that mix and obviously Parker Washington and Elijah Cooks, some of the young guys we have,” Pederson said. “It should be a really good, exciting offseason to see just how we can make all these pieces work."
But what about the talent-rich class of receivers available in the 2024 NFL draft?
“Yeah, we are going to add receivers. We need 15 or 16 guys going into training camp so we're going to add guys,” Pederson said. “We're not where we need to be, it's not the final product. If there is somebody sitting there that makes you better, you are going to do everything you can to try to do that. We talked about it, it's a good receiver group this year. If you can always add talent, add talent wherever you can."
The translation seems to be that the Jaguars don’t feel like it’s a significant hole on the roster that has to be addressed right away. If a receiver is the best player available, then so be it. But a big swing at the position might not be in the cards.
