JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — It’s no secret that the Jaguars’ pass-rush was lacking in 2025, particularly along the interior as the defensive tackles ranked just 27th in pressures (76) last season. For context, the Titans’ Jeffrey Simmons nearly matched the Jags’ team total with 64 himself, according to Pro Football Focus.
The injuries to Travon Walker and Arik Armstead certainly didn’t help the cause. By season’s end, Jacksonville managed just 32 sacks, 27th best in the NFL. So how is it then that the Jaguars managed to field one of the NFL’s best defenses and one of the most opportunistic as well.
Ladies and gentlemen, meet defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile.
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Campanile’s head coaching looks after just one season as play-caller should be evident enough of just how successful he and the Jaguars’ defense were last season, turning one of the league’s worst defenses of 2024 into one of the league’s best in 2025.
At the core of this revitalization is Campanile’s blitzing philosophy. Despite leading a defense that wasn’t very good at getting home, nor all that good at creating pressure on the whole, Campanile found a way to puppeteer opposing quarterbacks.
The goal was simple, striking fear of the unknown into opposing quarterbacks and offensive coordinators. Anthony Campanile ranked top-5 in both sending three rushers (4th) and six or more (5th). In the same vein, he ranked 10th in stunt % (19.6%) and 12 in simulated blitz % (8.6%), according to FTNFantasy.
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At any given time, offenses were caught guessing as to if the Jaguars would blitz and when they did, how many would come. It’s this very philosophy that actually won the Jaguars the game against the Chiefs as Patrick Mahomes believed the Jaguars would send an all-out blitz against him at the goal line.
Instead, Campanile called their bluff, dropping Devin Lloyd and DaVon Hamilton into coverage for what would become a pick-six for Lloyd and the game-winning play. I already stated that the Jags didn’t rank well when looking solely at pressure and sack rates, but that doesn’t tell the whole story.
The Jaguars pressured the quarterback at the seventh fastest rate (2.62s) in the NFL and forced the ball out of the QB’s hands at the second-fastest rate (2.74s). With how good QBs are at creating off script nowadays, it’s actually statistically better to force the ball out quickly. And that’s just what Campanile’s defense did.
When blitzing, those times dropped even further, forcing the NFL’s fastest average time-to-throw (2.52s) and second fastest time-to-pressure (2.30s). Campanile forced opposing quarterbacks to play the game the way he wanted.
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The Jaguars sent anybody and everybody after the quarterback, looking to force mistakes. The 62 pressures from linebackers and 30 pressures by defensive backs ranked second and fifth most, respectively, according to Pro Football Focus.
When they did get pressure, no defense was better. The Jaguars’ defense shined as the NFL’s best when pressuring the quarterback and fourth when blitzing. The results of Campanie’s philosophy were 31 takeaways and 22 interceptions. Force mistakes.
The Jaguars, hopefully, should be much more efficient at rushing the passer this season and shouldn’t need the blitz to create pressure, but don’t expect Campanile’s creative spirit to go away. Jaguars’ fans may have seen a teaser of what is to come towards the end of last season with Walker getting increasingly more snaps inside, next to Josh Hines-Allen
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