Jacksonville Jaguars edge rusher Travon Walker
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Jacksonville Jaguars edge rusher Travon Walker
The Jacksonville Jaguars didn’t have the No. 5-overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft because they finished last season with a deep playoff run. Quite the opposite. They were a woeful 4-13 and while some might point to the fact that they lost quarterback Trevor Lawrence after 10 games, they were still only 2-8 with him.
While many would like to point to Lawrence not living up to his 2021 draft status, the Jaguars were absolutely putrid on defense in 2024. They ranked No. 31 overall in the NFL on that side of the ball while giving up 389.9 yards per game. And, it would seem like they are going to need help from within to improve, since they didn’t do a lot to address that side of the ball in free agency or the draft.
According to Pro Football Focus, that internal “X Factor” really needs to be former first-overall pick and edge rusher Travon Walker.
“One defender who will be expected to make a leap is Travon Walker,” Max Chadwick and Dalton Wasserman of PFF write. “The No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft started to show some life in Year 3, earning a 68.2 PFF overall grade after posting a 56.6 mark across his first two years. Walker’s 10.5 sacks were the 11th most among all edge defenders, while his 56 pressures tied for the 18th most. This will be a massive season for him to prove whether he can become a superstar like his draft position warrants.”
The Jags picked up Walker’s fifth-year option in April and they absolutely should have. After a sluggish rookie season with just 3.5 sacks, he’s posted double digits in each of the last two years with 10 sacks in 2023 and 10.5 last year. While those numbers don’t scream “top-overall pick,” they also don’t produce “bust” whispers of any kind.
Sadly for Walker, he needs to be much better to help make up for almost everyone else on the defense not named Josh Hines-Allen.
Jaguars did little in free agency on defense
Jacksonville’s biggest free agency addition to a wretched defense? A nickel cornerback. Jourdan Lewis is a very nice cornerback that was brought over after eight seasons with the Dallas Cowboys.
While it’s an important addition to any defense, it’s also not a get-over-the-hump move. John Shipley of Sports Illustrated liked the signing even though it wasn’t earth shattering.
“The Jaguars made Lewis the highest-paid nickel cornerback in NFL history with this deal, with Lewis getting $4 million more in guarantees than Kenny Moore got with his latest deal with the Colts,” Shipley writes. “It is a big deal for a good player who has proven his worth as one of the NFL’s best slot defenders throughout his career. Age is a slight knock on the deal, but it otherwise makes plenty of sense.”
Outside of the Lewis addition, the Jags did nothing of note in free agency that would move the needle. Maybe adding safety Eric Murray helps with depth, but he’s not the kind of help that Jacksonville really needs.
Jags didn’t do much in the draft either
One’s opinion on how the Jaguars addressed the defensive side of the ball in the draft probably depends what you think of Hunter. Regardless of what he says, it’s really not fair to ask a rookie to come in and be a mountain mover on offense and defense right away. That’s probably a fast track to ruination.
So, what else did they do? They took cornerback Caleb Ransaw in the third round from Tulane. ESPN’s Michael DiRocco thinks Ransaw can help, but he’s not likely to have an immediate impact.
“Ransaw can be part of the unit rebuild and the Jaguars see him as a core special teamer,” DiRocco writes. “He’ll start out at safety but the Jaguars are willing to move him around if needed.
“GM James Gladstone really liked how physical the 6-foot, 196-pound Ransaw plays and praised his ability as a tackler. Ransaw had 114 tackles in four years, including 51 at Troy. “What stands out is his tackle ratio,” Gladstone said. “The root word of the position safety is safe. And he’s somebody that can make sure that when there is someone who gets loose, he can get him down.”
But, other than Ransaw, they didn’t start throwing picks at the defense until the fifth round. So, it sounds like PFF is correct in that Walker is going to have to pick up a lot of slack and show why he was the No. 1-overall pick in 2022. If he can get the pass rush going along with Hines-Allen, that should go a long way towards improving the league’s worst pass defense.