The Jacksonville Jaguars started the 2025 season off with a bang, scoring an easy victory over the Carolina Panthers. The offense played well enough - it certainly wasn't the best show from Trevor Lawrence, but he looked confident and in-control, and it was enough to make fans optimistic about how he'll perform the rest of the season. Surprisingly, the bright spot from this game was the defense.
It wasn't too long ago that someone would be shocked to hear that the Jaguars defense dominated a game. Last season, they had one of the worst defenses in the league, thanks to Ryan Nielsen doing everything he could to tank it. Anthony Campanile was given the difficult task of fixing the defense, and while changes were certainly made, one thing he didn't mess with was the linebacker corps, which - even last year - was the one unit that remained elite, even as Nielsen drove the defense into the ground. (How he was able to get a job with the Buffalo Bills is a mystery.)
Among the Jaguars' linebackers, while there is a lot of talent in that room, one name easily stands above the rest: Foyesade Oluokun. Originally signed by the Atlanta Falcons in the sixth round of the 2018 NFL Draft, he initially didn't make much of a splash until 2020, when he was named Defensive Player of the Week for the first time. He came to Jacksonville in 2022, and has been named a captain every year. He's only gotten better each year, though - as with the rest of the defense - he took a step backwards due to Nielsen's incompetency. But he was predicted to have a comeback season in 2025, and so far, that prediction looks to be dead on.
Foyesade Oluokun named AFC Defensive Player of the Week
In the NFL's Week 1 awards, Oluokun was named the AFC Defensive Player of the Week, his third time receiving the honor in his career.
"Oluokun registered 10 tackles, a forced fumble, a pass defense and an interception in the Jaguars’ 26-10 win over the Panthers. He was the only player in the NFL to force multiple turnovers in Week 1," the press release noted, adding that only one other player (Ryan Fitzpatrick of Harvard) has been an Ivy League grad and received three or more Player-of-the-Week awards.
One of Oluokun's biggest plays was an interception that led directly to the Jaguars' first touchdown, though as the NFL press release noted, he forced multiple turnovers during the game against the Panthers. It's already clear that Campanile has Oluokun doing great things, and while the Jaguars defense might still be rated poorly because of how bad it was last year... underestimating them could end up being a huge mistake.