In his second season with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2025, defensive lineman Arik Armstead is looking to move back to the defensive tackle position.
“That’s gonna be my plan,” Armstead said via The Florida Times-Union. “That was what I wanted to do this season as well, too. There’s situations that you have to deal with in this league. I’m gonna switch back inside, which was what I wanted to do this season, and I’m gonna be back playing to an elite player that I know I can be.”
The 2024 season was Armstead’s first with the Jaguars after signing as a free agent last offseason. Before that, he had been with San Francisco from 2015-2023.
With the Jaguars, Armstead was asked to primarily play the defensive end position, and was the third member of that rotation behind Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker.
While Armstead had experience playing outside previously, the majority of his playing time since the 2022 season had come as a defensive tackle. So not only was Armstead adjusting to a new team and a new defensive scheme last season, but also an unfamiliar position.
Production-wise, Amrstead went from producing 58 pressures and eight sacks in 2023, to only 36 pressures and two sacks in 2024. He went from ranking ninth among defensive tackles in pass rush win rate in 2023 to ranking 32nd among edge defenders in 2024.
“When I look back, look at the film for me, I haven’t not started in a long time,” Armstead added. “It was a position change for me. Next year [I] got a lot planned, so I’ll just leave it at that.”
As a defensive unit, the Jaguars’ could benefit from having Armstead’s presence back inside. While Hines-Allen tallied 63 pressures and Walker 56, outside of those two, the Jacksonville pass rush was quite inconsistent. As a collective unit, the Jaguars ranked 30th in pressure rate, according to Pro Football Reference.
Now, where Armstead did see an uptick in production, according to PFF’s metrics, was as a run defender. His run defense grade increased from 2023 to 2024 and his run-stop rate as well. Perhaps, this was what the Jaguars were going for with the move outside.
The defensive tackle position is one where the Jaguars could use reinforcements this offseason, and it looks like, some help may be coming internally with Armstead ready to transition back to that familiar role.
“I’ve been a situation like this before where I had to break out of something and overcome it,” said Armstead. “I’m excited to do that next year.”
