When the Jacksonville Jaguars began the 2022 season, they had Tyson Campbell and Shaquill Griffin starting at cornerback with free agent acquisition Darious Williams playing out of the slot. It was, quite frankly, a situation that was not good enough to slow opposing offenses.
After Griffin landed on injured reserve in October, the Jaguars secondary got even worse. With Tre Herndon and Montaric Brown both getting a turn in the starting lineup, opposing quarterbacks picked on whoever played on the opposite side of Campbell.
Then in Week 14, the Jaguars tried moving Williams to the outside and — voila — it was a brand new defense. In the last five weeks of the regular season, Williams was credited with allowing just six receptions for 46 yards.
“That’s my position,” Williams told Mia O’Brien of 1010XL about the position swap. “Obviously, that’s where I make my plays at. I just love the feeling of being out on an island. The feeling of competing. Nickel is a little bit different, box tackling and all of that. But I’m in my position now.”
With the combination of Campbell and Williams locking down receivers on the outside, they’ve also seen much better play out of Herndon, who moved to the slot.
“Tre is a hell of a nickel,” Williams said of Herndon. “He’s a dual corner, at the same time, but just the way he moves, he’s physical, he’s a really good nickel.”
With a reconfigured Jaguars secondary leading the way, Jacksonville didn’t allow any of its last five opponents to reach 250 passing yards. The team’s last three opponents — the Houston Texans, New York Jets, and Tennessee Titans — finished below 200 passing yards, although all three teams entered with lackluster quarterback situations.
The new-look defensive backfield in Jacksonville will get its first real test when the Justin Herbert-passing attack of the Los Angeles Chargers comes to town Saturday.
