Jared Odrick to play 'big end' in Jaguars defensive scheme

The Jacksonville Jaguars signed defensive lineman Jared Odrick to a five-year, $42.5 million contract during the 2015 NFL free agency period. It was a bit of a surprise move for the team, as they had both Red Bryant and newly re-signed Tyson Alualu at the five-technique position and the possibility of USC's Leonard Williams falling to them at No. 3 overall. Instead of hoping for Williams though, the Jaguars snapped up Odrick.

There was some thought that with the injury to Sen'Derrick Marks late in the season Odrick would line up quite a bit inside for the team, but defensive line coach Todd Wash seemed to indicate last week that Odrick was signed with the purpose to play the "big end" position in the Jaguars defense.

"His ability to play multiple positions is a big thing," Wash told Ryan O'Halloran of The Florida Times-Union. "We're going to bring him in as a ‘big' end, but he can play some three-technique. He's a very stout run defender. And last year, he wasn't a part of an attack-and-react system, so his sack and disruption numbers were down."

When it was noted that Odrick was a similar player to that of the now released Red Bryant, but was much better rushing the passer, it left quite a few people with some furled brows because of Odrick's relatively low sack totals with the Miami Dolphins. Odrick even noted in his introductory press conference that in Miami he had to two-gap quite a bit, which means he can't really focus on rushing the passer, and part of why he signed in Jacksonville is because of the plan they had for him in their defensive scheme.

"When he's played in the system we play, you've seen him rush the passer well," Wash added.

Odrick has shown some ability to rush the passer in spurts with the Dolphins, playing both tackle and end in their defensive front that's gone back and forth between 4-3 and 3-4. In the Jaguars system though, he should be able to hold up against the run at the big end position, but offer quite a bit more rushing the passer than Bryant ever did.

"We really liked him then, so we knew his body style would fit our 4B. But he's athletic enough to go inside and give you some rush," Wash told O'Halloran.

You might have noticed Wash used the term "4B" rather than five-technique, but for all intents and purposes it's the same thing. For less of confusion, I constantly refer to the big end as a five-technique, but the actual "4B" just means that Odrick is likely going to lineup on the inside shoulder of the right tackle and be responsible for the B-gap, which is between the right tackle and right guard.

With the addition of Dan Skuta and the team hopefully finding a real OTTO for their front that can control the C-gap, Odrick can control the B-gap while also bringing pressure on the quarterback by attacking it. Odrick will also likely kick inside on some packages where the Jaguars have a "double LEO" look to provide some pass rush from the interior.