JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jaguars’ secondary has been plagued by injuries this season. Add in the trade of Tyson Campbell, and the back end of the Jaguars’ defense has quickly gotten scarcely thin. Luckily, it hasn’t seemed to affect the unit all that much.
In fact, the Jaguars are coming off of some of their most impressive defensive showings of the season. Those filling in have stepped up in a big way for Jacksonville, namely Montaric Brown, Jarrian Jones, and Antonio Johnson.
We’ve looked at the impact Jones and Brown have made to the defense; now it’s time to analyze just how critical Antonio Johnson has been in place of the injured Eric Murray.
According to NFL’s Next Gen Stats, Johnson has allowed 11 receptions on 20 targets for 110 yards, zero touchdowns, and two interceptions on the season. For context, his 55% catch rate allowed leads the Jaguars and is among the best in the NFL at the safety position.
His numbers total an NFL Rating allowed of just 31.3, which is third among qualifying defensive backs this season. Last season, Johnson felt a bit out of sorts after a promising end to his rookie season. This season, it seems his previous level of play and confidence have returned.
When looking deeper into just how good Johnson has been this season, he ranks 15th among defensive backs in coverage EPA. Essentially, one can think of it as to how many points a team has gained or lost by targeting a certain player in coverage. Despite being a backup for a large portion of the season, Johnson worked his way pretty high up that leaderboard.
Two sacks, two interceptions, and zero touchdowns allowed, Johnson is making splash plays at every level of the defense. Oh, and he’s been a sound tackler, too. According to Pro Football Focus, Johnson has missed on just 7.7% of his tackle attempts, 16th among the Top-99 safeties.
Jacksonville’s historic turnover run has more or less regressed back to the mean; however, it could be argued that, as a whole, the unit is playing its best ball the last few weeks. The pass-rush is humming, Josh Hines-Allen has ascended, and a banged-up secondary is playing as if those injuries never happened.
It’s a fast-flowing, ever-changing NFL, but this Jaguars team looks to continue to only be getting better, on both sides of the ball. They will need to continue to do so as a dangerous Indianapolis Colts team rolls in this weekend in a game that could decide the fate of the AFC South.
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