There will be plenty of storylines to follow and players to keep an eye on when the Jacksonville Jaguars host the Kansas City Chiefs in their season opener tonight at EverBank Stadium.
Yesterday we looked at which players we will be keeping a close eye on in today’s pre-season, now we will look at the bigger picture and analyze three aspects of the 2024 squad we will be keeping an eye on.
Having said that, here’s what we’ll be watching on Saturday night.
Ryan Nielsen’s defense
While we won’t get the full picture of what Ryan Nielsen’s defense will look like, we will at least see how the Jaguars implement their base fronts, coverages, and overall philosophies against the Chiefs. This means we will see the Jaguars’ defensive players in their new roles for the first time, and also get to see for the first time how Nielsen’s secondary will attack opposing receivers.
“Yeah, it’s really good to train against. Not everyone plays like that, there are different philosophies on defense. When you play against our defense that plays like that, it’s very physical from the outside, there’s no air, there’s no cushion for the most part,” Trevor Lawrence said Thursday. “Obviously they adjust and they have different angles, but the timing has to be perfect, landmarks have to be perfect, communication between myself and the receivers or tight ends or whoever is critical because the windows of opportunity are a lot smaller because they’re being matched up for different things, or usually you expect that play against soft coverage where you have some room to run – different things.”
The Jaguars’ new defense will be a stark contrast to Mike Caldwell’s 3-4 defense, which allowed big players on the field and strong backs on defense. We won’t see Nielsen go all out on Patrick Mahomes and Carson Wentz tonight, but we will get the best look yet at what that side of the ball will look like.
Will the 2023 vintage make a leap?
For the Jaguars, a lot will depend on their 2023 draft class this season. The Jaguars know what they have in rising right tackle Anton Harrison, who won’t play due to concussion protocol. But there are several other second-year players the Jaguars will rely on this year, and Saturday will be the first big sign of whether they’re ready.
Brenton Strange and Tank Bigsby will not start on offense, but both are expected to play a larger role in the offense than they did last year. Each must earn the coaching staff’s trust, however, and that starts tonight. Tyler Lacy and Ventrell Miller might be the best backups on defense, and both could be inserted as starters at any time if injuries occur. Cooper Hodges and Christian Braswell are the best backups at right guard and nickel corner, respectively, and both will need to make the most of their appearances this preseason after battling injuries as rookies.
The two second-year players who could play the biggest roles are wide receiver Parker Washington and defensive back Antonio Johnson. Washington could be the Jaguars’ best backup receiver, and the preseason could show if he’s truly versatile inside and out. Johnson is a starting safety and could use some momentum after a relatively quiet training camp so far.
Unraveling the impetus
The biggest preseason story across the league is the implementation of the NFL’s new kickoff rules. This week is the first opportunity for teams to see what the rule looks like and what adjustments they’ll need to make to their strategies. And while the Jaguars probably won’t bring many creative ideas to the table for their special teams before Week 1, this at least gives us a chance to see how the Jaguars will operate.
“So, we’re going to put the ball on the tee and kick it in the box and see what happens. But I think it’s going to be a big weekend, obviously. There’s going to be a lot of video footage to go through after this weekend,” Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said Thursday.
“I still don’t think a lot of teams are going to show what they’re going to do schematically. Some teams don’t even put their starters back there in the preseason because of injury risk and things like that. But it might give you an idea of how to prepare, how to plan and what to look forward to.”
