The Jacksonville Jaguars have a pair of talented pass rushers in Travon Walker and Josh Hines-Allen. While the defense as a whole struggled in 2024, the duo fared well and should be even better next season. One of the reasons to believe that they will is that the Jags replaced defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen with Anthony Campanile.
So far, Campanile has been a breath of fresh air, and both Walker and Hines-Allen will surely benefit from his coaching. Couple that with the fact that both of them lost weight after being asked to bulk up last year, and it's easy to see them wreaking havoc in 2025.
But as promising as Walker and Hines-Allen look, an NFL analyst isn't so sure the Jags will get their pass rush going.
Alex Ballentine of Bleacher Report drew up a list of the biggest questions surrounding each team ahead of the 2025 season and picked the pass rush (or perceived lack thereof) for Jacksonville, noting that they're counting on the group from last year to step up.
"It's nearly impossible to win games in the league without an effective pass rush, and the Jaguars had one of the worst in 2024," Ballentine wrote. They were dead last in pass-rush win rate and 30th in pressure percentage. Those numbers are a bit surprising given how good Travon Walker and Josh Hines-Allen are, but the edge-rusher didn't get much help in the interior. Walker and Hines-Allen combined for 18.5 sacks. The next most productive player was Maason Smith with three sacks."
"Ballentine continued, "It wasn't like the Jaguars went out and got Milton Williams, either. They are hoping to get better production with a new defensive coordinator in Anthony Campanile and a handful of veteran free agents."
All things considered, Ballentine makes some solid points. The Jags were one of the worst teams at pressuring the quarterback, and their lack of slash signings could be a potential reason for concern. However, they didn't need to bring him another premier pass rusher. They already had two in Walker and Hines-Allen. Instead, they needed to round out their rotation, which is what they did when the team's brass brought in Dawaune Smoot, Darren Gardick, and Emmanuel Ogbah.
Moreover, Jacksonville expects Maason Smith to make a leap in Year 2, and there's a chance he'll pull it off because he'll now be playing next to Arik Armstead, who's switching back inside after mostly playing defensive end last season.
When you add it all up, it's easy to understand why the Jaguars didn't make nearly as many upgrades to the defensive front.
Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker should have no trouble coming through for the Jaguars
The skepticism surrounding the front four is understandable, but there are reasons to think the Jacksonville Jaguars will be just fine. For instance, Brian Baldinger of NFL Media acknowledges that the group as a whole must step up but believes that double-digit sacks for both Travon Walker and Josh Hines-Allen is a reasonable expectation.
"You're playing extreme heat. I don't think it's going to hurt either one of their powers. Travon is a very powerful player to begin with. I don't think it's going to affect his power," Balndinger said on 1010XL when discussing Walker's lost weight. "So if it improves his overall conditioning and his movement and quickness, yet doesn't take away from the power. That can't be a bad thing for any pass rusher. They feed each other."
Baldinger continued, "They need a better inside, you know, push. They need Mason Smith to really step up this year, DaVon Hamilton, some of the guys that are there. I think that's where they really need to improve. I think both Josh and Travon have a chance to have double-digit past seasons coming up this year."
But leaving aside Baldinger's endorsement, Hines-Allen should be able to once again join the conversation about the top pass rushers in the NFL. Despite the fact that he only logged 8.0 sacks in 2024, he ranked sixth in the league in disruption rate among his peers. The former Kentucky Wildcat should see an uptick in production if both Walker and Smith make a leap as expected.
The bottom line is that the Jacksonville Jaguars knew that they didn't need to make too many tweaks to a group that already had several talented pieces in place. As the adage goes, why fix it if it isn't broken?
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