Jaguars DC Ryan Nielsen excited to work with Pro Bowl edge Josh Allen

One of the biggest storylines surrounding the Jacksonville Jaguars this offseason is how they'll prevent outside linebacker Josh Allen from hitting the open market. Regardless of the route they take, newly hired defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen hopes the Jags find a suitable solution and keep one of their top players.

The Jaguars held a press conference to formally introduce Nielsen as their defensive coordinator. Throughout the exchange, Nielsen touched on several topics, including the prospect of working with a player of Allen's caliber.

"A lot of production, right? Very important. So when you get a guy like that, you want him back. You think that's going to work out, would be really excited if that works out," Nielsen said regarding Allen's contract situation. "Would be really excited to work with him. Nothing but great things, talked to Josh and he's been he's been fantastic, so that'll get worked out, get him back, and get him going. And hopefully, getting him in to improve."

"That's the ultimate goal, right? Just take one, if we can just get that much better next year. Really, what does that look like? That's pretty exciting, right? And so that's kind of what we want to work towards," Nielsen said.

Nielsen also talked about the reasons he was drawn to the Jaguars' opening for a defensive coordinator, citing the people he would be working with as the main reason he took the job.

"When you start looking at an opportunity, you look at the people in the building. You look at the head coach, coach [Doug] Peterson, did not know him personally before this, but you do your research, and you talk to people that have worked with them. I was fortunate to be on a staff that had a coach that had worked for coach Peterson before, and he said some unbelievable things about him."

"And then, you started calling around, just a couple of guys, you want to check, it's so important that you work with good people, and we're so close to this thing. We spend so many hours a day away from our families with these men in here. You want to be around good people. So that was the first thing. Then Trent [Baalke] you know you hear the same things. You start working your way down."

Later in the exchange, Nielsen said he wasn't aware the Jaguars had built a new training facility (Miller Electric Center), but he found out it, among other things, after doing a little digging.

The Jaguars moved on from defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell after the end of the 2023 season. After conducting a search that lasted a couple weeks, they chose Nielsen to fill the vacancy. Among the things he will put an emphasis on will be fundamentals and physicality, elements the defense lacked at times last year. Here's Nielsen's full exchange with the local media.

Jaguars DC Ryan Nielsen believes Josh Allen can be even better in 2024

The comment Ryan Nielsen made about Josh Allen improving was interesting. He didn't mean he was bad last year, he wasn't, but rather that he could be even better, and that should get everyone excited about the two working together. A first-round pick in the 2019 draft, Allen is coming off a career year, setting a new team record for sacks in a season with 17.5, and making the second Pro Bowl of his career. Imagine how much better he can be under Nielsen's tutelage.

Ideally, Allen would have already signed an extension but he hasn't. Working in the Jaguars' favor is that they cannot meet with players at this stage of the offseason, so the contract impasse is not currently hurting the team. That said, the front office must make sure Allen is available for organized team activities to ensure Nielsen's best player is available when he installs his system. The easiest way to make it happen is to give the star pass-rusher a long-term deal.

The bottom line is that Ryan Nielsen, just like every other fan, wants to see the Jaguars reach an agreement with Josh Allen. The sooner they do it, the faster his contract situation will stop being discussed.

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