With offseason programs now behind us, let’s take a position-by-position look at where things stand for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Next up are the defensive ends.
If you missed our other positional reviews, you can find them below.
Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker drop weight in new defense
Hines-Allen, Walker, and other Jaguars defenders were told to put on weight last season under former defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen. However, Liam Coen and Anthony Campanile wanted these two, and others, to get back to their more natural playing weights.
“I was 285,” Hines-Allen said of his playing weight last season. “I was much bigger. My mindset was always to be as dominant but it was, obviously, holding a little bit more weight puts a little more wear and tear on the body.
“It was a lot. Too much. Again, learned to adapt, have know what works best for you, something I tried, and something I’m like, alright, probably don’t want to do that again. So we’re working on maintaining a good goal for me this year and put some good tape out there.”
Travon Walker would then say: “I am not going to use that as an excuse, but I felt like it took a little bit of a toll on me closer the end of the season. It has its pros and its cons.”
Last season, Hines-Allen and Walker were still two of the more productive pass rushers at the defensive end position, but this change, along with the new defensive scheme, can better position these two to make even bigger impacts in 2025.
Travon Walker can become the first Jaguars player to accomplish this feat:
Walker has recorded double-digit sacks in each of the last two seasons, recording 10 sacks in 2023 and 10.5 sacks in 2024. He he can reach that double-digit mark again in 2025, he will become the first Jaguars’ defender in team history to hit 10-plus sacks in three consecutive seasons.
However, while pressures and sacks are what garner the attention, Walker is focused on being a well-rounded defender who leaves his mark in the run game as well. In order for defenders to have the opportunity to rush the passer, they have to stop the run first.
“Everybody wants to get double-digit sacks,” Walker said, via Jaguars.com. “For me, I just want to be a total and complete football player. I want to be able to stop the run because we aren’t able to rush the passer without stopping the run. Once we do that it allows us to get after the quarterback. I just want to come out here and be the best overall player I can be every day.”
Jaguars prioritize depth at defensive end
Since the NFL draft ended, the Jaguars have made three veteran additions to the defensive end position specifically, signing Emmanuel Ogbah, and more recently, Dennis Gardeck and Dawuane Smoot.
Before these additions were made, the Jaguars would have been relying heavily on inexperienced players behind Walker and Hines-Allen, with Myle Coles and a few UDFAs providing the depth at a position that is often rotated, with four or sometimes five players seeing snaps each week.
More consistency behind Hines-Allen and Walker has been a need for the Jaguars, and providing that has been a clear priority as of late.
“You want, we talked about it the other day, waves of maybe some different types of rushers at times,” Liam Coen said of the defensive end position after Thursday’s practice. “When you’re playing in the trenches specifically, when you come in and maybe you’re a UDFA or a rookie in general, that size, that strength, that speed, especially in the trenches, is different for anybody.
“So there’s always a curve, there’s always going to be a learning curve and physical growth curve that is going to occur,” added Coen. “But getting some of those guys that have established themselves in this league and played meaningful snaps, I think will just help us in times of crisis and just to be a little bit more consistent in someway, knowing that we’re pretty young as a team in general.”
Changes up front in the new defensive scheme?
Walker would say that there aren’t any dramatic changes to the Jaguars’ defense this season from a schematic standpoint. However, under Campanile, we are expected to see a more attacking defensive front, with the defenders having more freedom in how they rush the passer, as Maason Smith described.
Also, Gladstone alluded to there being more movement up front, and if we look at how the Green Bay defense operated last season–which is where Campanile coached the linebackers–we could see more blitzes and simulated pressures in Jacksonville this season.
This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: Jaguars position review after minicamp: Josh Hines-Allen, Travon Walker and the DEs
Reporting by Paul Bretl, Jaguars Wire / Jaguars Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
