Only six teams in the NFL finished last season with fewer sacks than the Jacksonville Jaguars. Since the year ended, both Duwuane Smoot and Arden Key — who finished second and third on the team in sacks, respectively — were allowed to reach free agency.
While there’s still a strong chance Smoot will be brought back, adding pass rushers looked like it would be a top priority for the Jaguars in the 2023 NFL draft. Yet the team didn’t pick any defensive players until Day 3.
After the draft, Jaguars coach Doug Pederson told reporters that the team believes the pass rushers already on the roster can make the improvements necessary to make the quiet offseason a moot point.
“We are expecting Josh Allen to take the lead and of course Travon [Walker]’s there and K’Lavon Chaisson to take a step,” Pederson said Saturday. “They’re all guys that have been here, the second year in the defense. Jordan Smith is coming back off injury. He has another opportunity there.
“So, yeah, we expect greater results starting in training camp and then obviously carrying over to the regular season. Looking forward to it. Looking forward to working with these guys, developing their skill set even more.”
Allen, 25, earned Pro Bowl honors as a rookie when he finished 2019 with 10.5 sacks. He’s been unable to reach eight sacks in any season since. With Allen now set to play on the fifth-year option of his rookie contract, the Jaguars may opt to wait and see how his 2023 season goes before deciding whether he’s worth a pricy extension.
But perhaps no player on the Jaguars defense will be more pivotal than Walker. The No. 1 pick of the 2022 NFL draft only had 3.5 sacks as a rookie. A similarly lackluster season will probably doom the Jaguars to another sack total near the bottom of the league, while a big jump forward could propel Jacksonville to new heights.
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