Poaching Matthew Jackson from Titans shows Jaguars' commitment to special teams

The Jacksonville Jaguars put together their initial 53-man roster hours before the cutdown deadline. However, head coach Doug Pederson told everyone that they would keep making moves. True to his word, the Jags reportedly inked safety Matthew Jackson to their practice squad. The signing will potentially give their special teams a boost.

Although the Jags claimed no players in the waiver wire, they did sign Jackson, according to Justin Melo of The Draft Network. The Eastern Kentucky product signed with the Tennessee Titans after going undrafted last year. He re-signed with them earlier this year but was waived on cutdown day.

In Jackson, the Jaguars have a player who can contribute on special teams, reinforcing their commitment to that phase of the game. General manager Trent Baalke met with the local media after the cutdown deadline and said that they felt they were thin on special teams after going heavy on bigs (defensive linemen). For that reason, they were going to look for potential reinforcements.

"I think we feel good about a nucleus of guys, a core group of guys. There's never enough depth," Baalke responded when asked about the team's investment on special teams. "When you go with as many bigs as we went with it, it thins out that core a little bit. So we're going to continue to look at that and what we need to do to potentially beef that up."

Baalke continued, "But again, the roster's never completely set. You're constantly looking. Heath [Farwell] and Luke [Thompson] are doing an outstanding job of coaching those guys and getting them ready to play. Sometimes, you've got to have guys that are starters step up and step in and fill roles. So we're going to look at all our options. But again, we're gonna that's what you do. You just keep looking."

Last year, Jackson only played two snaps on defense for Tennessee. However, he appeared in 57 percent of their special teams snaps. Similarly, the Tennessee native logged 37 special team snaps during the 2024 NFL preseason.

It's important to point out that the Jaguars were able to sign Matthew Jackson because he cleared waivers, making him a free agent. However, the team's brass didn't want to give up a roster spot, so they instead stashed him on special teams.

Signing Matthew Jackson is one of many moves the Jaguars have made to upgrade the special teams in 2024

The Jaguars have made a heavy investment on their special teams over the last few years. This past offseason alone, they signed return specialist Devin Duvernay and later used a pair of draft picks on kick returner Keilan Robinson and kicker Cam Little. Once Matthew Jackson cleared waivers, the front office couldn't pass up the chance of locking him up.

In Jacksonville, the sophomore safety could carve a niche on special teams and work his way into the roster. That's how linebacker Caleb Johnson and wide receiver Tim Jones did it. Doug Pederson acknowledged as much when he met with the local media.

"It's valuable. Both guys have been staples on special teams. That's just credit to them," Pederson responded when asked how valuable it was for Johnson and Jones to contribute on special teams. "It's a message to the young players on our roster that if you want to play in this league and you want to play on the club, you bust your tail on special teams. Both of those guys have kind of come up through that and have done a nice job, and they've earned their spots."

Neither Johnson nor Jones saw many snaps on defense and offense, respectively, but both of them were key special teams contributors last year. Similarly, safety Daniel Thomas hardly ever logged time on defense but saw extended action as a gunner and even signed a two-year extension in the offseason. Something similar could happen with Matthew Jackson down the road.

Special teams don't get nearly as much attention as the offense or the defense, but the Jacksonville Jaguars have poured significant resources into that phase of the game. Going after Jackson is the latest proof of it.

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