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Jacksonville Jaguars wasted no time unveiling a new defense

VaselineSeptember 13, 2024

0 3 minutes read

Jacksonville Jaguars wasted no time unveiling a new defense

The Jacksonville Jaguars found new faces on both ends of the field on Sunday after their Week 1 loss to the Miami Dolphins.

Game that was: Jaguars Offense ‘Let It Go’ in Week 1 20-17 Loss to Miami Dolphins

Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson made a drastic change at the start of the offseason, firing most of the defensive coaching staff and replacing them with defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen and his brethren.

Offensively, Jacksonville acquired two new receivers, Gabe Davis and Devin Duvernay, via free agency before taking Brian Thomas Jr. in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft. Jacksonville also signed center Mitch Morse in hopes he could bring stability to an offensive line that struggled a season ago.

Defensively, the Jaguars signed several players, including cornerback Ronald Darby, defensive lineman Arik Armstead and defensive back Darnell Savage. They then drafted DL Maason Smith and CB Jarrian Jones.

Most, if not all, of their off-season signings played key roles on Sunday.

We look at the snap counts on offense and defense from Week 1 and provide some context on what they could mean.

Jaguars Week 1 Offensive Snap Count Analysis: Gabe Davis Plays 94% of Snaps

OL Anton Harrison: 53 photos (100%)
OL Cam Robinson: 53 photos (100%)
OL Ezra Cleveland: 53 photos (100%)
OL Mitch Morse: 53 photos (100%)
OL Brandon Scherff: 53 photos (100%)
QB Trevor Lawrence: 53 photos (100%)
WR Gabe Davis: 50 photos (94%)
WR Brian Thomas Jr.: 41 photos (77%)
WR Christian Kirk: 38 photos (72%)
RB Travis Etienne: 37 photos (70%)
TE Evan Engram: 68 photos (68%)
TE Brenton Strange: 19 photos (36%)
RB tank Bigsby: 17 photos (32%)
TE Luke Farrell: 14 photos (26%)
WR Parker Washington: 7 photos (13%)
WR Devin Duvernay: 5 photos (9%)
WR Tim Jones: 1 click (2%)

Analysis:

Davis’ high snapping percentage is what stands out most when looking at Jacksonville’s offense. Davis made an immediate impact, too. He caught all three targets thrown his way for 62 yards, the most of any Jaguar.
Jacksonville’s offensive line played a full game together to start the 2024 season. Injuries took a toll on this group last season and they came out clean.
Bigsby had his best game as a Jaguar. He led the team in rushing yards with 73 yards on 12 carries (6.1 yards per carry). Despite this, he played the fifth-fewest snaps, giving the majority of the running back snaps to Etienne who added 44 yards on 12 carries (3.7 YPC) and a touchdown. Etienne also had two catches for 15 yards.
Jacksonville rarely operated out of a two-tight-end set, rolling with Engram as the team’s lone tight end for most snaps. Engram caught one pass for five yards.

Jaguars Week 1 Defensive Snap Count Analysis: 20 Defensemen Play At Least 10 Snaps

S Antonio Johnson: 71 photos (100%)
CB Ronald Darby: 70 photos (99%)
S André Cisco: 64 photos (90%)
LB Foye Oluokun: 60 photos (85%)
DL Josh Hines-Allen: 58 photos (82%)
LB Devin Lloyd: 53 photos (75%)
Head coach Tyson Campbell: 53 photos (75%)
DL Travon Walker: 52 photos (73%)
DB Darnell Savage: 49 photos (69%)
DL Roy Robertson-Harris: 42 photos (59%)
DL DaVon Hamilton: 36 photos (51%)
DL Arik Armstead: 31 photos (44%)
DL Maason Smith: 29 photos (41%)
By Tyler Lacy: 24 photos (34%)
CB Montaric Brown: 19 photos (27%)
CB Jarrian Jones: 16 photos (23%)
LB Yasser Abdullah: 16 photos (23%)
DL Myles Cole: 11 photos (15%)
LB Chad Muma: 10 photos (14%)
LB Ventrell Miller: 10 photos (14%)
DB Terrell Edmunds: 6 photos (8%)

Analysis:

Twenty defensemen played at least 10 snaps on Sunday, including seven defensive backs. For reference, in last year’s Week 1 game against the Colts, Jacksonville had just 15 players and five defensive backs play 10 or more snaps.
Hines-Allen played 83 percent of the team’s snaps despite the emphasis on defensive line rotation. In contrast, four defensive tackles, including Robertson-Harris (42 snaps), Hamilton (36), Smith (29) and Lacy (24), played in a heavy rotation.
After playing 100% of the team’s snaps in 2023, Oluokun played 85% of the snaps. Lloyd played 97% of the defensive snaps in 2023, but saw just 75% of them Sunday. Muma and Miller played 10 snaps in specific packages, a new twist for Jacksonville’s defense under Nielsen.
Savage, a chess player, played 49 snaps Sunday. According to Pro Football Focus, he played 25 snaps as a slot corner, 11 as a free safety and two as a left or right outside linebacker at the line of scrimmage. Savage’s effort will be one of the most interesting aspects of the team’s defense.
Armstead played 23 snaps as a left defensive end, two as a right defensive end, five as a defensive tackle and one as an inside-the-box linebacker/stand-up defensive lineman.

Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, bee @Demetrius82.

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VaselineSeptember 13, 2024

0 3 minutes read

Jaguars Week 1 Offensive Snap Count Analysis: Gabe Davis Plays 94% of Snaps

Jaguars Week 1 Defensive Snap Count Analysis: 20 Defensemen Play At Least 10 Snaps

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