Will the Jacksonville Jaguars Change Their Defense in 2020?

Under Todd Wash, the Jaguars have run the same 4-3 defense for four years. With their defensive draft picks last week, a change seems to be on the horizon.

Since becoming the Jacksonville Jaguars defensive coordinator in 2016, Todd Wash has been adamant that his defense would retain the identity with which it was first implemented. When Gus Bradley first arrived in Duval County in 2013, he brought with him Wash and the defense he’d helped curate under Pete Carroll with the Seattle Seahawks.

Before the 2016 season began, Wash was hired as Bradley's defensive coordinator, though Bradley would be fired during the season. Wash kept, in theory, much of the same defense but limited its scope to only what a 4-3 exist as on paper. When the Jaguars drafted Kentucky’s Josh Allen last year, Wash asserted Allen would be a defensive end.

Dec 1, 2019; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Josh Allen (41) sacks Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston (3) during the third quarter at TIAA Bank Field. Mandatory Credit: Douglas DeFelice-USA TODAY Sports

While in college, Allen played what was listed as linebacker but was really a hybrid edge rusher. He could line up to rush the quarterback, go sideline-to-sideline in run support or even drop into coverage if needed. The position—known often as a BUCK or as a LEO in Bradley’s defense—can shift the defense at any point. It earned Allen first-team All-American honors, SEC Defensive Player of the Year, he won the Bronko Nagurski Trophy for National Defensive Player of the Year and won the 2018 Chuck Bednarik award for college football’s best defensive player.

During OTA’s before his rookie year, Wash had a clear plan in place for Allen however. He was drafted to play defensive end. He’s going to play defensive end. Wash didn’t want a double-digit sack guy dropping back to coverage when he could have him out rushing the passer. In the same post-practice availability, he doubled down that the Jacksonville Jaguars would play a 4-3 defense as long as he was the defensive coordinator.

Now, Allen did make the Pro-Bowl as a rookie while accumulating 44 tackles, 10.5 sacks and two forced fumbles. So he was well served in his role. However, the look of offenses across every phase of football is constantly evolving. Defense must evolve along with it for any hope of survival. 

After drafting LSU’s K’Lavon Chaisson in the first round (No. 20 overall) of the 2020 NFL Draft along with Ohio State’s defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton in the third, it seems Wash and head coach Doug Marrone agree it’s time to loosen the reigns.

Chaisson is listed on the draft announcements as a defensive end/linebacker, or in other words, the hybrid roaming edge, which we’re going to call the BUCK until Todd Wash says otherwise. On the roster, his position is left blank. For what it’s worth, Allen is currently listed as a DE/LB.

Until now, the Jags have run a 4-3 under front with a defensive end lining up on the weak side offensive line as a pass rusher and the other end anchored by a larger DE. Rush four, cover seven; it’s the framework for every defensive scheme the past couple of decades.

Having Yannick Ngakoue and Josh Allen as the bookends of the front seven in 2019, Wash ventured outwards with a few modern twists such as allowing them to rush standing up. The majority of the time though, hands are in the ground. A three-point stance can allow for a better get-off, meaning the rushers are much faster off the block. But it also tells the offense exactly what that player is doing. A two-point stance—basically, coming to the line of scrimmage standing up—means he can flip his hips quicker and change his assignment. It’s crucial when facing an offense running any sort of RPO or read option.

Enter K’Lavon Chaisson.

“It’s funny because when we drafted K’Lavon, I made a comment to a friend of mine and I’m like, ‘I sleep much better at night knowing that we have some pass-rush studs,’” joked Caldwell.

It’s not so much that the Jags drafted Chaisson (60 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks in 2019). They took Dante Fowler Jr. No. 3 overall back in 2015 after he spent three years playing the BUCK spot in Will Muschamp’s defense. By the time he was traded to the Los Angeles Rams, he had been regulated almost entirely to a three-point stance. The Rams immediately stood him back up. 

So what’s to say it won’t happen again with Chaisson? Well, for starters, there’s been an actual acknowledgment from the Jaguars of a possible change.

Back on November 21, 2019 while talking about linebacker Myles Jack, Wash rehashed his system and how it relies on the power of the 4-3.

“[Jack is] on an edge a lot, but that’s what’s going to happen in zone schemes within our system. Not that everybody knows, but if our linebackers just run downhill, we’re going to get killed in the passing game. It’s just the way we play our system. It’s the way Gus [Bradley] plays it, it’s the way [Robert] Saleh plays it, it’s the way they play it in Seattle. Your linebackers can’t get just downhill, a lot of people don’t understand that, a lot of people don’t understand football to be honest with you. So, our scheme allows them to go east and west, but when he does see it, we need to see our linebackers getting downhill better than we have. But you’re not going to see them just running downhill, that’s not our system.”

If you have a player, like Allen or Chaisson who can help in run support or even drop into coverage, then linebackers can afford to run downhill a little more. So could head coach Doug Marrone see that happening more with more of a 3-4 in the next season?

Nov 30, 2019; Baton Rouge, LA, USA; Texas A&M Aggies quarterback Kellen Mond (11) is tackled by LSU Tigers linebacker K'Lavon Chaisson (18) in the second half at Tiger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports

“Yes. I think for sure on base downs, you will see more of our SAM [strong side] linebacker on the ball.”

With 12 picks in this latest draft—most in franchise history—general manager Dave Caldwell and the front office had to grab players capable of making this shift. So in addition to Chaisson, they also picked up the Buckeye Hamilton and the Florida Gator CJ Henderson.

“[Hamilton’s] production per snap was really good. Like Coach Marrone said, since we lost Marcell [Dareus] with his injury, we have been missing a big body. That is why we got Al Woods. Now we have a young version of Al – 6’4, 320. He is a guy that can hold the point [of attack]. We will have a nice rotation with those guys. DeVon, Abry [Jones], Taven [Bryan]. We wanted to get bigger up front and protect our linebackers and Joe [Schobert] and Myles [Jack]. Now we have K’Lavon Chassion. We feel good about the front seven. That was an area we wanted to improve and plus we got the corner on Day One.”

The corner on Day One—CJ Henderson, No. 9 overall—was more so about grabbing the best player at a position of need but the decision will still pay dividends for Marrone and Wash if the transition to a 3-4 becomes a reality. 

We could spend another 1,200 words just breaking down what the addition of Henderson does for the secondary. But no matter how much free time you have in quarantine, we know you’re just reading this during commercial breaks for “The Last Dance” re-runs, so we’ll save the secondary exploratory for another day. Still, getting CJ Henderson with the first overall pick was a priority on night one of the Draft.

“We felt like there could be some corners at 20 that we liked, but we didn’t like as much as C.J. obviously,” explained Caldwell.

“We are happy to get C.J. and add a pass rusher at No. 20. Historically, if you feel like the pass rusher can play the run and play the pass and in K’Lavon’s case, also cover, too. This is a guy that is really multifaceted, and we can play in some 3-4 looks obviously with Josh Allen and him and I think he offers a bunch of versatility on our defense with those two guys and Yannick [Ngakoue].”

The versatility and multifaceted looks Caldwell mentioned is helped abundantly when it also features a corner that can blitz. Sending a zone blitz from that spot accounts for the extra rusher lost when the BUCK is dropping back. Several things can happen but the most likely—and ideal—options are: the blitz lands causing a sack, it forces an errant throw, a handoff is given and the linebackers now also have the BUCK to help stop the run, or the corner and the BUCK both rush the backfield for a “meet me at the quarterback” play and the linebackers are left to cover what can at most be a quick throw to the middle of the field.

Under Florida defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, CJ Henderson was asked to play this more aggressive role and in two years picked up four sacks, with three alone his sophomore year. In the 2019 regular season, only two NFL corners—Logan Ryan (Tennessee) and Jourdan Lewis (Dallas)—had more than three with 4.5 and four respectively.

During the 2019 season, the Jacksonville Jaguars defense ranked 24th in the league, giving up an average 375.4 yards per game and opponents converted 3rd downs 42% of the time (23rd in the league). Will a shift to a more 3-4 look work? It remains to be seen. But the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result. 

This next season, the Jaguars are going to do something different and expect a better result. As Dave Caldwell explained, that was the goal of this latest draft.

“We felt good about filling some needs; there’s always a point where you wish you could do more. You’re never going to come out of a draft completely satisfied. But this is about as satisfied as we’ve been. There were some picks here and there where we’re one or two picks away. We feel good about the players we got and filled some needs: secondary, linebacker – we’re going into the season with some really good depth at those positions. Obviously, defensive line, like I said from the beginning, we really want to set up the front seven for success.”