JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — This offseason, many figured the Jaguars would have big shoes to fill with the void left by Devin Lloyd. He’d just come off the best season of his career, snagging an NFL-best five interceptions at the position, 81 tackles, and 25 pressures. The Jaguars’ dominant defense thrived off of turnovers, and Lloyd played a big part in that.
Following his departure, many thought the Jags would seek out a low-cost replacement at the position, whether through free agency or the NFL draft. That didn’t end up being the case as the Jaguars forwent signing a linebacker and didn’t touch the position until the seventh round of the draft.
With the understanding that Gladstone and Coen come from the Rams’ ideology, it shouldn’t come as too big of a surprise. Since the Rams hired Sean McVay in 2017, the Rams have not used a single Top-100 pick at the position.
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Now that training camp is underway, it appears the Jaguars’ staff may be a little anxious about the position, signing three players just this past week in Jahlani Tavai, Amari Burney, and Jared Bartlett. It seems the team is in search of competition and depth at the very least.
Though the Jags do have some experience at the position in Ventrell Miller. He’s filled in for injuries at times and done some nice things for the Jags, particularly in run-defense. In 2024, his 9.9% Run-Stop % placed him inside the Top-15 among all NFL linebackers.
He isn’t the player to make the same game-changing splash plays as Lloyd, but Miller’s consistency and process in run-defense could help to soften the blow. Albeit in a much smaller sample size, some of Miller’s numbers from the last two seasons do fare pretty well.
As mentioned, Miller’s numbers in run-defense look really good. His 9.2% run-stop rate since 2024 is comfortably better than that of Lloyd’s (5.9%) as is his NFL Rating in coverage across the last two seasons. Miller’s career NFL Rating of 72.6 is really rather respectable, allowing zero touchdowns and just 36% of his targets to be caught last season.
His coverage skills and tackling greatly improved statistically last season, dropping his missed tackle rate of 19.3% down to 7.1%. With as much experience as he has, it makes sense he seems to be the frontrunner for the starting spot, listed as a dual starter alongside Branson Combs on the team’s initial depth chart.
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Of the three players the Jaguars signed, Jahlani Tavai has the most decorated career, totaling 466 career tackles, 5.5 sacks, and 10 turnovers created. He started seven games for the Patriots last season.
Foye Oluokun is as consistent as they come and figures to collect his seventh consecutive 100+ tackle season this upcoming year if healthy.
But it’s the adjacent starting linebacker spot that is the Jags’ biggest question mark on defense this preseason.
Reportedly, Branson Combs has shown up and shown out this training camp, so the battle at the linebacker spot should be a fun watch this preseason.
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