Jaguars' Interior Defensive Line Faces Pressure to Improve in 2025

There's a lot of excitement for the 2025 Jacksonville Jaguars under their new administration. But a major concern remains the interior of the defensive line.

In a recent edition of the Jacksonville Jaguars Insider Podcast, Jaguars On SI Beat Writer John Shipley expressed the persisting personnel problem up front and inside.

"I'd say the second biggest concern going into the year has to be interior defensive line. Did the Jaguars make the right call by opting to not add more to that [unit]? We've talked about [that] before. You know, Arik Armstead, he's been very productive in the past. DaVon Hamilton has been productive in the past. Jordan Jefferson and Maason Smith showed flashes. So those are like four guys right there who have some positional versatility, have some pass rush upside, have some run defense upside, but it's still a unit that, with all these same guys, was amongst the worst interior defensive lines in football last year, both in terms of stopping the run and getting after the quarterback," commented Shipley.

With the talent that was assembled up front for the Jaguars, just what went wrong. Shipley explained what seemed to be the source of the problem and had to do with where certain individuals were alligned.

"I think a big part of that obviously had to do with Arik Armstead playing outside much more than anybody anticipated. He's obviously much more impactful inside. We've gone over his pass rush. The difference, you know, between him rushing inside, him rushing outside, his numbers when he's rushing inside are just on a different level. They're not similar whatsoever. So there is context to why this unit struggled last year, but the Jaguars didn't add anything to it."

"And just think about some of the position groups the Jaguars overhauled this season. They overhauled the quarterback room, they overhauled the tight end room, they overhauled the wide receiver room, they overhauled the cornerback room. They've overhauled the safety room. They've added a lot of edge depth. They've not been shy about fixing up this roster and doing so in their image and moving on from some [former GM] Trent Baalke and [former HC] Doug Pederson guys, but defensive tackle is, really, the one position where they haven't done anything."

"They have three undrafted free agents at the position, of course, but they didn't spend a single one of their draft picks at the position. They didn't sign a veteran and free agency, they are completely banking on the guys from last season to take a step forward and be more impactful this year. And of course, you know, they're probably hoping that a change in the defensive scheme, and changing, for example, where Armstead is playing, will factor in a great bit, and they probably will. But still, this is a room that last year struggled, really, in all facets, and now the Jaguars are completely banking on that unit. And I can't think of any other position where they're doing that."

"And for them not to address it, you have to think that shows some confidence in the guys that they have this year. Now, as General Managers have always said, you can't fill all of your roster holes in one season, but not even a draft pick, not even a free agent defensive tackle will be heavily under the microscope for the Jaguars this offseason," Shipley concluded.

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