Jacksonville Jaguars young defense getting better each week
The Jacksonville Jaguars bet on their young defense to develop.
Heading into the 2020 regular season, the Jacksonville Jaguars were aware they were going to field an unproven defense, but they also knew their young players would eventually develop and help the team down the road.
Jaguars defensive coordinator Todd Wash said via the team’s official website that the coaching staff knew this was going to be a young and raw group without the luxury of an offseason. He pointed out it was just a matter of time before they showed growth. In the same sitdown, he told the media the teams envisioned their young defense to progressively get better throughout the season.
Wash is pleased with the progress his players have made, praised their tackling skills, and believes they’re doing a good job overall on first and second downs, which in turn, has allowed them to have more success.
The work isn’t over for the Jacksonville Jaguars’ defense.
It true the Jacksonville Jaguars’ defense has played better in recent weeks. They forced two turnovers against the Green Bay Packers and allowed 24 against them. However, that hasn’t been enough to win football games and the unit still ranks 31st in both yards and points allowed.
Moreover, the ‘Jags’ are dead last in sacks with a paltry nine sacks. There are currently players such as Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt and Los Angeles Rams that have as many quarterback takedowns as this Jacksonville team.
Rookie defensive tackles DaVon Hamilton and Doug Costin have indeed grown this season. Nevertheless, the Jaguars aren’t getting production from their second first-round pick in 2020, defensive end K’Lavon Chaisson and sophomore Josh Allen has been dealing with injuries this season and hasn’t been the dominant player he was in 2019 when he registered 10.5 sacks.
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Wash is right, the Jaguars’ defense is making strides and their young players are stepping up, but this would’ve been nice early in the season, not in the second half of the year. On the bright side, the Jaguars are finding key players to build on.