JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — It’s always hard to gauge just how much merit one should give to preseason play in the NFL. Over the last two years, the Jaguars went a combined 6-0 in preseason games, only to finish 13-31 in the regular season.
This preseason, the Jags went winless but looked impressive in parts. Two of the units that looked most impressive were the Jaguars’ trenches, something desperately needed after last year’s disappointing results across the lines.
Across the three preseason games, the Jaguars tallied 10 sacks, compared to the three sacks allowed. That bodes well for the team and its depth this season. Similarly, the Jaguars allowed a 27.6% pressure rate compared to the 33.9% generated by the defense. For comparison, the NFL average sits around 31-32%.
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The starting offensive line looked especially solid, though admittedly in limited action. Across the Jaguars starters, only Ezra Cleveland allowed pressure. Trevor Lawrence was pressured on just 22.2% of dropbacks and took zero sacks. Jaguars’ backup Nick Mullins didn’t take any sacks either.
Regarding the defensive line, BJ Green and Danny Striggow stole the show. Green’s eight pressures ranked T-10th among NFL edge defenders, and his impressive 23.7% pass-rush win rate ranked 12th, according to Pro Football Focus. Striggow notched six pressures of his own, finishing second on the team in pressures. Did either of them do enough to earn a roster spot?
Anthony Campanile reminded Duval County about blitzing and used it effectively. So much so that Jack Kiser actually finished third on the team in pressures, in addition to blitz sacks garnered by Kiser, Andrew Wingard, Yasir Abdullah, and Ventrell Miller.
The run-blocking also seemed to be much improved. Jaguars’ running backs averaged 4.3 yards per carry during the preseason, slightly up from their 4.2 average last season. Travis Etienne and Tank Bigsby led the way, averaging 4.6 yards per carry between the two of them.
As stated, it’s hard to say how much any of these statistics really matter since it’s just “preseason.” Even so, I’m sure every team would rather look good during preseason than the inverse. It will be interesting to see who stays and who goes when the roster is finalized. James Gladstone has already orchestrated two trades across the trenches as well.
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