Jacksonville Jaguars Mid-Season Report Card – Grading the Defensive Line
By Daniel Lago
The Jacksonville Jaguars are in the midst of arguably the most inept stretch of football in the history of the NFL. Mercifully, they have a bye this week to regroup and reevaluate some players and decide how to approach the last 8 games.
The bye week also gives us the opportunity to grade the personnel and their performance so far. Today we examine the defensive line.
| Snaps | Sacks | Hits | Hurries | PFF Run Def. | PFF Pass Rush | PFF Ovr. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sen’Derrick Marks | 470 | 2 | 8 | 10 | -3.8 | 5.7 | 1.6 |
| Tyson Alualu | 395 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0.1 | -9.9 | -7.9 |
| Jason Babin | 373 | 2 | 9 | 11 | -2.2 | -0.9 | -9.0 |
| Roy Miller | 330 | 0 | 0 | 6 | -8.4 | -3.7 | -10.3 |
| Andre Branch | 259 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 3.1 | -3.1 | -1.9 |
| Brandon Deaderick | 203 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -7.2 | -0.2 | -6.6 |
| Jeremy Mincey | 145 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 2.1 | 0.3 | 1 |
Oct 20, 2013; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars defensive tackle Sen
Sen’Derrick Marks has far and away been the best defensive lineman on the team. Caldwell brought Marks in to bolster the defensive tackle rotation and Marks has provided a fairly consistent interior pass rush. He’s really been the only encouraging player on the line this season.
Tyson Alualu moved over to defensive end to hold the point and contribute as a run stopper. While he hasn’t provided much of a pass rush, Alualu has done a decent job in run defense and isn’t a liability in that sense. Roy Miller was brought in to plug up the middle and make it difficult to run, but he’s been awful according to PFF. He’s rated as the 5th worst defensive tackle/nose tackle and the majority of that is from his poor run defense grade.
Jason Babin has been a non-factor on defense and honestly has no reason to be on this team anymore. His pass rushing “prowess” has only produced 2 sacks all year to go along with EIGHT penalties. Babin is overpaid and over the hill – he should be released sometime soon.
The defensive line doesn’t really have any other noteworthy performers and that’s probably been the biggest problem with the Jaguar defense – the inability to rush the passer or stop the run. Losing eight games to start the season isn’t hard to comprehend with such an ineffective defensive line.
Mid-Season Grades: Defensive Line
Sen’Derrick Marks – B
Tyson Alualu – C
Jason Babin – F
Roy Miller – D-
Andre Branch – D+
Brandon Deaderick – C
Jeremy Mincey – C
– Daniel Lago
Yell at me on Twitter @dlago89