The Jaguars and Anthony Campanile’s shiny new defense showed up and showed out in their debut, allowing just 10 points on three turnovers.
While there is something to be said for matchups and scheming against weekly opponents, what did we learn about Campanile’s defensive scheme in week one?
The Jags fared pretty well against the run (16th in EPA/Rush), however, they really excelled against Bryce Young and the passing attack (3rd in EPA/Dropback).
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This is ideally the hope for Campanile, who hails from the Vic Fangio system.
Fangio’s philosophy is one that makes sacrifices in run-defense to throw more personnel into the back end of the defense.
That’s exactly what we saw from Campanile in his first week as defensive coordinator.
The Jaguars ran base defense at a near league average rate (19th), however, Campanile sent out dime personnel at the second highest rate in the NFL (36.1%).
Devin Lloyd and Ventrell Miller, co-starters at linebacker, saw snap rates of just 34% and 25%, respectively.
In their stead, Darnell Savage saw a 44% snap rate, despite his role as the sixth defensive back.
Foye Oluokun’s role has already been well-established. He is the team’s every-down linebacker, playing all 64 defensive snaps this past Sunday. Moving from personnel to coverage types, the Jaguars predominantly ran zone coverage against Carolina.
According to FTN Data, the Jags ranked sixth in zone % and 26th in man coverage usage.
That’s quite the shift from Ryan Nielsen’s man-heavy scheme from last season. From a pass-rushing perspective, Campanile’s a breath of fresh air after a disappointing season in 2024. After ranking 30th in pressure rate, 30th in stunt rate, and dead last in blitz rate, Campanile has made massive changes to how the Jaguars pressure the quarterback.
In his coordinating premiere, Campanile sent blitzes on 20% of dropbacks (23rd) and stunts eighth most in week one. It seemed to work as the Jaguars pressured Young on 40% of his dropbacks, 10th most in the NFL.
The unit only notched one sack, but the pressure did ultimately lead to costly turnovers.
Obviously, it needs to be said that the Panthers aren’t a very good team or offense.
There’s also some fluidity week to week as defensive coordinators prepare for different opponents weekly.
That said, Campanile has already shown fans just how different this defense will look compared to years past.
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