Emmanuel Ogbah Fills Major Need for Jaguars' Defense

For years now, it has seemed like the Jacksonville Jaguars looked at their pass-rush depth and merely shrugged their shoulders.

That finally changed on Sunday, however, with Jaguars general manager James Gladstone moving quickly to sign veteran pass-rusher and former Miami Dolphin Emmanuel Ogbah to a low-risk deal.

"Former Dolphins free-agent defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah is signing a one-year deal worth up to $5 million with the Jacksonville Jaguars, per his agent Drew Rosenhaus," ESPN's Adam Schefter said on X.

The move to sign Ogbah is a clear shift for how the Jaguars view the edge rusher position compared to the last several years, which underscores the potentially massive impact that Ogbah could have even as a top backup on the defense.

Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker have proven to be one of the best pass-rush duos in the entire NFL over the last two seasons. This didn't happen overnight, though, and the Jaguars ensured they had proper pass-rush depth in 2022 in Walker's rookie season with veterans Dawuane Smoot and Arden Key.

Key left in the 2023 offseason for a deal with the Tennessee Titans and Smoot suffered an Achilles injury at the end of 2022, impacting his play in 2023. Hines-Allen and Walker were extremely productive and combined for nearly 30 sacks, but they had little-to-no help from the rest of the defensive roster.

Then in 2024, the situation got even more dire. Trevis Gipson was signed in the offseason to be a potential answer before the Jaguars flipped him for a sixth-round pick from the Seattle Seahawks. Long-time defensive tackle Arik Armstead was moved to defensive end and, well, played how you would expect a long-time defensive tackle to play.

With 2024 seventh-rounder Myles Cole being the Jaguars only real draft investment in the pass-rush since selecting Walker No. 1 in 2022, the Jaguars had to make some kind of move for a No. 3 edge rusher this offseason.

The Jaguars didn't make that move in the draft due to how the board fell, but Gladstone didn't even wait a whole day until signing Ogbah, who has 10.5 sacks over the last two seasons.

If Ogbah can provide five sacks and a decent pressure rate in a No. 3 role for the Jaguars -- and all signs are that he can -- then he will finally be an answer to a question that has lingered for far too long.

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