JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Small mistakes add up. Big mistakes add up even quicker. Missed tackles are something seemingly avoidable yet remain a thorn in the back sides of many defenses. The Jaguars are no exception.
While the team might have been league average last season with 104 missed tackles, they were bottom five in 2023 and bottom six in 2022, according to Pro Football Reference. Those are certainly nothing to be proud of.
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Pro Football Focus graded the Jaguars as the 11th-best tackling team last season, but that’s in large part thanks to Devin Lloyd, whose 4.5% missed tackle rate led all linebackers in 2024.
Lloyd missed just five tackles the entire season. It’s a big reason as to why he was PFF’s 12th highest graded linebacker.
On the other side of things, Ventrell Miller led the team with 17 missed tackles. His 19.3% missed tackle rate ranked 86th among 92 qualifying linebackers.
Jarrian Jones’ missed tackle rate of 23.1% was no better, ranking 121st among 128 cornerbacks. That’s certainly something to work on.
While that may seem ugly, and it is, PFF did grade Jarrian Jones as the sixth-best cornerback in the NFL when it comes to his support in run defense, so that’s something for the young cornerback to build off of.
The ever-steady Foye Oluokun has been just above average each of the last three seasons when it comes to missed tackles; however, no one has been better at creating tackles than the two-time tackles champion himself.
In this year’s draft, the Jaguars seem to prioritize sound tacklers. It’s an area the new staff seemingly wanted to improve upon.
Caleb Ransaw enters the NFL as the second-fastest safety ever recorded at the NFL Combine, blazing a 4.33 40-yard dash. With that speed comes sure tackling as well.
Ransaw led all FBS cornerbacks with his impressive 2.1% missed tackle rate in 2023.
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It fell a bit in 2024; however, he’s as sure a tackler as they come in the secondary, and it’s a big reason why the Jaguars felt good about his transition to safety.
Notre Dame’s Jack Kiser was just as sound a tackler last season for the Fighting Irish. Kiser’s missed tackle rate of just 3.7% ranked second among FBS linebackers.
He helped lead Notre Dame deep into the playoffs, besting Indiana, Georgia, and Penn State before losing to Ohio State in the National Championship.
Neither looks to make an immediate impact in week one; however, it’s clear this is an area that Gladstone and Coen would like to get better at going forward.
With the return of Devin Lloyd and Foye Oluokun as the starting linebacker duo, the Jaguars should be just fine tackling this season, especially if Lloyd can remain atop the NFL’s best tacklers. The secondary, however, will need to improve upon their 2024 season.
The additions of Jourdan Lewis, Eric Murray, Ransaw, and Travis Hunter might do more for the Jaguars than just boost the team’s pass defense.
They could help Lloyd and company form one of the soundest tackling teams in the NFL.
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