JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Likely the Jaguars’ biggest weakness last season, particularly on the defensive side of the ball, was the lackluster pass-rush. For a defense that ranked among the NFL’s best, forcing 31 turnovers and boasting the NFL’s top ranked run defense, the team’s meager 32 sacks just weren’t what many had envisioned.
Injuries certainly played a large part in that. Travon Walker played much of the season with injuries as did Arik Armstead to close out the 2025 season. Following Armstead’s injury, the Jaguars’ defensive interior ranked 32nd in both pressures (12) and sacks (0).
As far as Travon Walker is concerned, his impact was still very much felt in the run game, but his average “get off” speed fell from 0.84s to 0.92s. It’s hard to measure just how much an injury impacts a player’s performance, but that certainly provides us with some context.
For reference, “get off’ is how long it takes a defensive lineman to cross the line of scrimmage.
Walker, who had back-to-back 10+ sack seasons in 2023 and 2024, managed just 3.5 in 2025. These injuries pretty much left Josh Hines-Allen to do a lot of the heavy lifting for the Jaguars’ pass-rush last season. While Hines-Allen finished fifth in pressures (80), according to NextGenStats, the Jaguars ranked just 20th (33.4%) in pressure rate and 29th in sack rate (4.6%) on the whole.
While they didn’t pressure maybe as often, Hines-Allen’s talent and defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile’s blitz packages did result in the Jaguars being among the fastest average teams to pressure in the NFL at 2.62s (8th). Hines-Allen’s 25 “quick pressures” ranked eighth among NFL edge rushers.
These factors are a good part of why the Jaguars caused 31 turnovers last season.
Hines-Allen’s ability to create pressure was responsible for several of those.
Campanile’s defensive scheme also limited what the Jaguars’ pass-rush could do, forcing the ball out of the quarterback’s hands at the second fastest clip in the NFL. It led to an incredibly successful defense, but didn’t bode well for its sack numbers.
When QBs only hold the ball for just 2.74s on average, there aren’t a lot of opportunities for pressures, much less sacks. That said, the Jaguars need to be far less reliant on their back seven to create pressures this season.
The team’s 92 combined pressures from linebackers and defensive backs ranked second-most in the NFL. Meanwhile, the team’s 76 pressures by DTs ranked 27th.
With training camp underway, the Jaguars are still on the lookout for the answers to the team’s search for a rotational edge piece and penetration from the defensive interior.
While no additions were made through free agency, the Jaguars did acquire Ruke Orhorhoro in a trade with Atlanta, before adding several pieces via the 2026 NFL Draft.
But, it’s tough to say what sort of impact any of these players will have on the immediate pass-rush. Orhorohoro certainly gives the Jaguars better depth behind Armstead, but if either Hines-Allen or Walker were to go down with injury, the Jaguars could be in a tough spot yet again.
Even so, it’s hard to imagine a scenario where the Jaguars don’t see a massive boost in pass-rushing production in 2026. A healthy Travon Walker and Arik Armstead will do wonders on their own. Prior to their injuries, they averaged 4.3 and 2.9 pressures per game respectively. Afterwards, those figures dropped to just 1.8 and 1.0 pressures per game.
It’s not too far-fetched to picture both Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker pushing for 10+ sacks again in 2025. A solid handful each from Arik Armstead, Dennis Gardeck, and the back seven. Suddenly, the Jaguars’ defense looks that much more intimidating.
While unproven, there is some promise in the Jaguars’ rookie defensive linemen as well. Zach Durfee led all of the Big 10 in “pass-rush win %” (22.2%) and boasted a 9.78 RAS with a 39” vertical. Wesley Williams and Albert Regis are more run stuffers than pass-rushers, generating a combined 40 career TFLs and 108 run stops, but could develop down the line.
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