When the Jacksonville Jaguars dished out a three-year, $34.5 million extension to nose tackle DaVon Hamilton in April it was an investment in the player he was becoming, not just a reward for his 2022 play.
The 2020 third-round pick has steadily improved and developed into a reliable starter, but Hamilton wants to be more than that. In May, he told the Florida Times-Union that he was aiming to diverse his game and not “just be known as the run-stopper.”
If Saturday night was any indication, Hamilton is on his way.
While he played limited snaps against the Dallas Cowboys in the Jaguars’ preseason debut, Hamilton consistently collapsed the pocket from the inside out. When Andre Cisco nearly got to Cowboys quarterback Cooper Rush on a blitz, it was Hamilton running free to clean up the sack.
“It’s the way he’s kind of attacked the season and attacked training camp,” Jaguars coach Doug Pederson said of Hamilton after the game. “It’s really good to see that he can definitely push the pocket from the tackle spot, and it just is what we need. It’s what we need all season long.”
There’s been much hand-wringing about the Jaguars’ decision to do very little to address their low sack total from a year ago. Despite finishing 26th in sacks, the team allowed Arden Key to walk in free agency and waited until the fifth round of the 2023 NFL draft to add another rusher to the fold in Yasir Abdullah.
But Jacksonville also finished the 2022 season with the most quarterback knockdowns and the sixth most hurries. That’s a lot of close, but not close enough plays by the Jaguars pass rush.
A little more interior pressure to take away escape routes and force quarterbacks off their spot could be all it takes to give Josh Allen and Travon Walker the opportunities they need to bring passers down. Hamilton will see much tougher challenges than the Cowboys’ reserve linemen he faced, but Saturday was a good sign that the Jaguars nose tackle is ready to wreck shop.
