It was clear from the start of the offseason that the Jacksonville Jaguars were going to emphasize stopping the run heading forward. One of the moves they made to do that was acquiring defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton in April’s draft, who did a lot of the dirty work to free up second overall pick Chase Young while at Ohio State.
In a virtual meeting with the media Friday morning, defensive coordinator Todd Wash spoke on the addition of Hamilton and why he (and others on the defense) hold the key to the Jags’ success.
“I think the way to win this division [is stopping the run] when looking at the teams we have [to face in the AFC South],” said Wash. “All three of them are in the top-10 in rushing offense. So we knew that we had to solidify our run defense and I think with the addition of [Hamilton], he’s a big physical guy that can hold the point and he’s got good range. So you know we’re excited about him. He’s going to be in a heck of a competition with some of the veterans that we have in the room.”
Back in May, I singled Hamilton out as the Jags’ best new addition for the same reasons: his ability against the run and his sneaky-good athleticism, which somewhat ties to the range Wash mentioned. When considering those elements of his game, it was easy to see that Hamilton could push to start at nose tackle, and so far he’s flashed in Phase 2 of camp.
With the pads going on next week, fans could hear Hamilton’s name gain some steam as we head into the regular season. Regardless of if he starts or not, at the least, he can be a solid piece to the Jags’ rotation in the interior alongside Abry Jones, Taven Bryan, Dawuane Smoot and hopefully Timmy Jernigan soon.
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