What is the most underrated need on the Jaguars defense?

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The Jacksonville Jaguars have a lot of holes to fill on the offense — quarterback, tight end, wide receiver, and some backup running backs and offensive linemen. As a treat. We talked about that last week.

This week? The defense... and HOO BOY.

We could throw a dart at the defensive roster and that position could use an upgrade.

Linebacker? Yup.Edge rusher? Sure.Cornerback? Oh yeah.Safety? Totally.

For me, it’s defensive line — specifically interior defensive line. In fact, I think aside from drafting Trevor Lawrence, fixing this team’s run defense will make the most impact in 2021.

The Jaguars were bottom dwellers when it came to defensive production last year. They allowed the second-most yards (417.7 yards per game) and the third-most rushing yards (153.3 yards per game). That helped opposing offenses score the second-most points (30.8 points per game) against them.

Was their secondary bad? Yeah. The Jaguars allowed the sixth-most yards (264.4 yards per game) but I would attribute some of that blame to the lack of pressure — Jacksonville had just 18 sacks last year, one more than last-place Cincinnati. Their defense was on the field for an average of 32:39 per game (second-worst in the league) because opposing offenses were able to run the ball and keep the clock running while converting second and third downs.

It’s why I’m excited at the prospect of a player like Christian Barmore out of Alabama falling to us at the bottom of the first round — as John Shipley pointed out, defensive tackle isn’t too far behind quarterback in terms of positional need on this roster.

But as I said earlier, the Jaguars could upgrade at nearly every position. Fingers crossed.

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