Outside of Jacksonville, Jaguars’ linebacker Foye Oluokun doesn’t receive much attention. But internally, the Jaguars know just how valuable a player he is.
Oluokun has provided stability at the linebacker position since joining the Jaguars in 2022, and his day-in, day-out consistency is a big reason why.
“My experience with him,” said linebackers coach Tem Lukabu, “having studied him and seen him from before I got in the building, as soon as I got in the building, I’m like, yeah, this guy is taken for granted because he’s one of the most consistent people, consistent players, most intentional people that you’ll ever see. And I hope and pray that I have another five of them in my career. Some guys don’t have a guy that’s this consistent. And it’s just a reminder to me, a lesson to me, like, hey, you’ve got one of those guys now. Let’s make sure we’re making it count while we have them.”
Oluokun has been extremely durable, playing over 1,100 snaps in three of the last four seasons, and a very reliable tackler throughout his career. He’s also shown the ability to get after the quarterback as a blitzer.
Oluokun’s skill set then continued to round out last season, with Liam Coen noting how much he improved as a coverage defender in Anthony Campanile’s vision based defense.
This included Olukokun recording a career-high 11 pass deflections.
“With him it’s a complete player,” Lukabu added. “You’re talking about on the grass, off the grass. He does it all. There’s just things that I know as a linebacker coach that I don’t have to worry about, because he’s going to take care of it. It just allows me to focus on the real issues rather than, for example, I’ve been in places where we’re so young that as the positioning coach, I’m doing step A through Z. Here it’s, all right, here’s the plan. I know they’re going to watch it. I know Foye’s going to have them watching it together before they watch it — so there’s layers in there that not everybody has in every building.”
As good and as steady as Oluokun has been, the continuity of being in Campanile’s defense for a second year could provide a jumping-off point for him.
This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: Why Jaguars veteran defender is ‘taken for granted’
Reporting by Paul Bretl, Jaguars Wire / Jaguars Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Paul Bretl, Jaguars Wire | USA TODAY Network
