While the Jacksonville Jaguars posted a top 10 defense in 2011 there was still a big area for the defense to improve. The Jaguars picked up only 31 sacks on the season, which ranked the team at 25th overall in the league. This was the third season in a row the Jaguars ranked in the bottom quarter of the league in sacks.
The Jaguars tried to address the situation with free agent Aaron Kampman, who could just never stay healthy. This season, the Jaguars selected Andre Branch in the second-round of the 2012 NFL Draft, with the belief that his speed will help the Jaguars close out sacks.
"Branch is a 4-6 [40-yard dash] guy and 260-plus pounds," Jaguars general manager Gene Smith told The Florida Times-Union. "He's done some things out there clearly to where you can see his closing speed off the edge. That should translate to getting more sacks."
"We gotta go ... from being rushers to sackers," Smith said.