The Jaguars 2009 Pass Defense

by Jonathan Loesche on Jun 27, 2009 3:33 PM EDT in Jacksonville Jaguars Camp Battles

Here is a quick rundown of Jacksonville's 2008 Defensive statistics against the pass.

Category	Yards/%/ETC	NFL Rank
Completion Percentage	63.9	24th
Yards Per Completion	8.1	30th
Yards per Game	224.1	24th
Touchdowns Allowed	25	27th
Interceptions	13	17th
1st downs allowed	166	12th
20+ yard receptions allowed	55	31st
40+ yard receptions allowed	17	32nd
Opposing QB Rating	95.4	28th

I'll give everyone a minute to grab the beverage of their choice to deal with those numbers. The only category the Jaguars pass defense didn't rank in the bottom half was first downs allowed. Call me cynical, but I think that was helped by the fact the Jaguars gave up so many big plays.

The stats that really bother me are the number of 20+ and 40+ yard receptions allowed. Those are the big plays that can change a game around. Jacksonville gave up between three and four of those a game, and one of those was going for 40+. To put that into perspective, the Pittsburgh Steelers gave up 23 20+ yard passes and only two went for 40+. The average number of 20+ yard pass plays given up in 2008 was 42.3. The average number of 40+ yard plays given up was 7.7.

Putting things lightly, the statistics show the Jaguar's pass defense was bad last year. That 95.4 QB rating would have been good for 5th in the NFL last year. The question now becomes, how do the Jaguars improve in 2009?

Defensive Line

If Shack Harris wants any kind of vindication, the defensive line needs to make a resurgence in 2009. The Jaguars never generated a consistent pass rush last year, leading to receivers managing to work their way open. It doesn't matter if we had Deion Sanders in his prime, if Peyton Manning has all day to throw, he'll pick the defense apart.

Derrick Harvey needs to step up in a big way. He was given a mulligan last year, as many noted how other now dominant defensive ends struggled their rookie year. However, considering Harvey's reputation for taking plays off and not giving 100%, he'll need to show a lot this up coming year.

Reggie Hayward may finally be all the way back from his ruptured Achilles. Hayward seemed to be a great free agent pick up until the injury has slowed him down through out most of his career as a Jaguar.

Quentin Groves is going to be submitting quite a few samples to the NFL's drug testing personnel. Groves is absolutely massive compared to how he was last year. It's obvious he is set on being an every downs player instead of being simply a pass rusher or a 3-4 OLB stuck on a 4-3 team.

These three players have to provide the majority of the pass rush for the Jaguars. If anyone of these can turn in a 10 sack season that can force a double team off of Henderson, then they'll be doing their job and the Jaguars will improve.

Defensive Backs

As I noted in the first Camp Battle article, the defensive secondary should be improved no matter what. With no Drayton Florence and a hopefully rebounding Reggie Nelson, that area should be improved.

Where the question marks lie are with Derek Cox, Brian Williams, Sean Considine, and new comer Gerald Alexander. Alexander was a solid player before a neck injury sidelined him last year. I believe he is a lock at the strong safety position going into camp.

That now leaves the battle between Cox and Williams at the corner position. Regardless of who wins, I'm sure both will see plenty of action as the nickel back. I believe Williams will win the position in training camp, bumping Cox to play nickel this year.

The Conclusion

Well, the Jaguars pass defense can't get any worse. A now healthy Reggie Hayward and veteran Derrick Harvey have to provide a consistent pass rush for anything to change. If they can, the Jaguars secondary has the talent to take advantage.

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Comments

I have doubts

at the D-line, because at the middle we have promising prospects and that’s it, so the pass rushers must overarchive this year. plus there is Monachino as well…
The secondary looks better. They have now what last year don’t a good coach in Mel Tucker. It seems to me that the jags have at least depth in the position, and if Reggie Nelson returns where he was th 2007, plus Cox will be as good as the jaguars think, plus one of the Considine, Alexander, McCree trio can step up, I think they will be fine.
On the last “Jaguars This Week” Jeff Lageman and Brian Sexton talked about Brian Williams. They say, they not saw him taking reps at safety, instead he was at nickel most of the time. I think the secondary will be another area to watch at training camp(specially at corner-Cox, and at safety-who will be the other guy next to Reggie.

Thanks John for the article, another fine piece as always!

by Zoltan from Budapest on Jun 27, 2009 5:18 PM EDT reply actions

We Bad...and not in a good way.

I knew we were awful but man, WE WERE AWFUL.

Jacksonville Jaguars. It's what I do.

by JvilleJag2 on Jun 27, 2009 9:07 PM EDT reply actions

PASS DEFENSE

Noone is expecting anything from the defense… Which is where they seem to want to be to catch opponents off guard. The catch is to get to the playoffs and go deep. If not, they will be right where they were in 08. Which is they know the weaknesses. I say they have to take advantage of it this year.

by JAGFAN65 on Jun 27, 2009 9:42 PM EDT reply actions

Great Points and you've nailed it.

The major weak link now is D-line (assumes O line improvement). They didn’t generate hardly any pass rush last year and the 40 yard + category is proof positive. Another sees the same issues with Harvey. This won’t sit well with the gator fan first crowd – but it is what it is — he absolutley takes plays off and disaapears altogether in entire games. And he did this while at UF so this is not a surprise — hence my critism of him last year.

Groves is interesting — he always seemd to give 100% effort last year and he’s fast. He just got physically dominated last year. He has bulked up coming into this season. If he can maintain his speed at the new weight – he may be someone to reckon with.

Henderson remains a question mark and the rookie tackle hasn’t played a down yet – so we’ll have to wait and see.

My expectations for D-line coming into this year is slight improvement, but will still be the bane of the D. Another offseason or 2 is still needed.

by OGN on Jun 28, 2009 8:57 AM EDT reply actions

I wonder how many of those

off-side penalties against Groves can be attributed to being dominated? Man… I’m actually looking for bigger things from him this year than Harvey. Just different attitudes between the two.

by Jaghomer on Jun 29, 2009 10:03 AM EDT up reply actions

agreed

by OGN on Jun 29, 2009 11:04 AM EDT up reply actions

Expectations

I’m starting to think Quentin may overtake Harvey in production this upcoming year. 8 sacks from each would be great, but I think Groves could possibly post 10-12. If he really has bulked up into the high 260s+, watch out.

I think passing the ball will still be the way to beat this defense next season, but I don’t think it will be deep passes that will kill us. With the arrival of Alexander, who seems similar to a younger Sammy Knight, and B-Dub back at corner, the secondary will be a lot like the 2007 secondary that was hard to throw deep against. I’d rather have 15 and under yard completions than a 55 yard morale killer down field.

If hip hop is dead, then it happened the day that Dilla died.
-Akrobatik

by Bestjagfan on Jun 28, 2009 10:35 AM EDT reply actions

I'm sorry to say this

but our pass defense was bad in 07 too, especially against the deep pass.

As for the Alexander/Knight comparison, Gerald is more of cover safety, whereas Knight is more of a linebacker type; in fact that’s where he played in college.

And there is no way, excluding injury, where Groves will have more sacks than Harvey. Groves may be faster, but Harvey has a quicker first. step and he has much better hips for getting around the corner. He’s also got a better repertoire of moves. And if you watch Harvey enough, you realize he’s much more aware than Groves is about his surroundings and what the offense is trying to do.(eg. screens)
That awareness and learning is also what I think people confuse with lack of effort. But if Harvey can strengthen his core he could be a much better player this year especially now that he knows what he’s doing.
Believe me when I say this too. I’m actually more of a Groves supporter than Harvey.
Also Groves started last year at about 260 lbs, though he looked like he was at about 250 by the end of the year. But now he’s hoovering around 270-275.

by Ewdtrey on Jun 28, 2009 4:10 PM EDT up reply actions

Hold Up

Just let me remove my dark blue and burnt orange auburn sunglasses

Damn, everything looks so clear. I guess Harvey is going to dominate this year.

If hip hop is dead, then it happened the day that Dilla died.
-Akrobatik

by Bestjagfan on Jun 28, 2009 10:21 PM EDT up reply actions

Ewdtrey

You know what’s funny man? I don’t know why, well maybe I do, but I can read your first two sentences when you comment and know it’s you. Point in fact, I read the first two of this comment, and I was like, “man, I bet that’s Ewdtrey.”

You just always seem to know what you’re talking about homey.

by Blair72 on Jun 30, 2009 6:36 PM EDT up reply actions

Thanks. I've been telling a friend of mine

the same thing about certain people on here. Even though I can’t hear accents or voices, many people seem to have a distinct diction or rhetoric. It’s really surprising how much you can tell about a person through their writing, especially if they are not getting paid to do it. haha

Like you always seem to make the best use of imagery and ambience. Tkopa is pretty good too; but he’s more of a setting and character development type of guy.

by Ewdtrey on Jul 1, 2009 2:31 AM EDT up reply actions