Jaguars' Darnell Savage In Line For Big 2025 Season

The Jacksonville Jaguars' defense is set to look a lot different this season.

Just take general manager James Gladstone's words from the NFL Scouting Combine for it.

“We'll be an urgent and explosive bunch on defense. It'll certainly be a shift from what our fans probably saw last year," Gladstone said just days after being announced as the team's newest general manager.

This was clearly a message to convey the team would rebound from their defense issues a year before, which have been well documented by now.

But it also reveals a bit of what Gladstone and the Jaguars are looking for in their defensive rebuild. They want explosive players who will play to the whistle on each and every down.

The Jaguars made this clear with some of their free agency additions, and likely will make it even more clear in this month's 2025 NFL Draft.

But the Jaguars also have several of those players in house and already on the roster. Amongst those defenders is defensive back Darnell Savage, who has already proven himself to be a swiss army knife.

Savage made big plays for the Jaguars both in the slot as a nickel defender and as a safety in his first year with the Jaguars. Signed in free agency last year to bring explosiveness and play-making the defense, Savage proved he can do exactly that.

With the Jaguars remaking the defense in first-year coordinator Anthony Campanile's image, players like Savage bring significant value. Players who will play all out on every down and can do so from a variety of alignments in the secondary.

It remains to be seen exactly how the Jaguars will deploy their secondary under Campanile, both from a schematic and depth chart point of view. The Jaguars very well could consider the year a clean slate for everyone and let the compeitition this spring and summer determine who sees the field.

Thanks to what Savage brings to the table, though, he will give the Jaguars flexibility regardless of the scheme they are in. Man coverage, zone coverage, blitzing, fitting against the run from the slot, playing as a high safety -- Savage has thrived at it all.

In terms of competition, Savage can help the Jaguars fill several roles and make sure they get the best 11 on the field on any given down. He doesn't have to be pigenholed to any one spot.

Versatility is the name of the game with modern defenses, and Savage is the most versatile cover man the Jaguars have. With a staff that should be able to utilize him and his skill set, he could help set the tone for the Jaguars' defensive overhaul.

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