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Michael DiRocco, ESPN Staff Writer
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Jaguars hired Ryan Nielsen as the team’s new defensive coordinator on Monday. The Jaguars began the search for a defensive coordinator after firing Mike Caldwell and other assistants a day after the team failed to make the playoffs with a win.
In a statement following the hiring, coach Doug Pederson said, “Ryan is an outstanding football coach and his defenses with the Falcons and Saints were always fundamentally sound in both their physicality and concepts.”
Here’s a quick look at what you need to know about Nielsen, a former USC defensive lineman (1997-2001), and what to expect from the Jaguars defense in 2024.
What did Nielsen do in Atlanta?
After six season with the New Orleans Saints as a defensive line coach (and 2022 as co-defensive coordinator), Nielsen spent last season with the Atlanta Falcons, making a clear impact as their defensive coordinator and defensive line coach.
The Falcons finished eighth in the NFL in passing defense, allowing 202.9 yards per game, while the Jaguars ranked 26th (239.8). Atlanta was also third in third-down defense (33.8%) and fourth in red zone defense (45.3%).
The Falcons improved statistically in seven categories from 2022, with the only drop-off coming in turnovers. They forced 17 in 2022 and 16 this past season. Most notably, the Falcons doubled their sack total under Nielsen, going from 21 in 2022 to 42 in 2023.
Atlanta held seven opponents in 2023 to fewer than 20 points — they won six of those games, losing only to the Carolina Panthers, 9-7.
What kind of scheme will he run?
Nielsen favors an attacking style that is heavy in man coverage. Per NFL Next Gen Stats, the Falcons were in man coverage 41.7% of the time, the third-highest rate in the NFL behind only the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants. For comparison, the Jaguars played zone coverage 82.8% of the time, the third-highest rate behind only the Indianapolis Colts and Seattle Seahawks.
The Jaguars played that much zone coverage because Pederson and Caldwell didn’t have the personnel to be consistently good in man coverage, especially with cornerback Tyson Campbell missing six games because of a hamstring injury.
If Nielsen wants to play more man coverage with the Jaguars, adding another cornerback should be a priority this offseason. Campbell is entering the fourth year of his rookie contract (his fifth-year option has not yet been picked up), and Darious Williams is entering the final year of a three-year contract he signed in 2022.
Who benefits the most from Nielsen’s addition?
All-Pro Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan spent six seasons with Nielsen, who was his position coach in New Orleans, and said this on X (formerly Twitter) about Nielsen when he left the Saints for Atlanta in 2023: “Top tier DL coach in terms of developing pass rush and emphasizing technique on run game integrity.”
Those two areas were major issues for the Jaguars in 2023.
Outside linebackers Josh Allen (17.5) and Travon Walker (10) combined for 27.5 sacks, but the rest of the defense only had 12.5, led by tackle Roy Robertson-Harris‘ 3.5. And while the Jaguars finished ninth in the NFL in rush defense (103.1 yards per game), they gave up 146.8 rushing yards per game in their five losses after the team’s 8-3 start. That included allowing Derrick Henry to run for 153 yards in the season finale, the most he had gained in a game all season.
It will be interesting to see what kind of impact Nielsen could have on Walker. Nielsen helped develop DE Trey Hendrickson into an impact pass-rusher in New Orleans. Hendrickson went from four sacks in Year 3 to 13.5 in his fourth season.
Walker more than doubled his sack output as a rookie (3.5) in 2023, giving the Jaguars multiple players with double-digit sacks in the same season for just the second time in franchise history (2017). Nielsen may be more willing to have Walker line up inside as a pass-rusher, which happened only 29 times last season.
Under Nielsen, Falcons end Arnold Ebiketie went from 2.5 sacks as a rookie to six sacks in 2023, and defensive lineman Zach Harrison recorded three sacks as a rookie. That’s a good sign for Jaguars defensive lineman DaVon Hamilton, who sat out the bulk of training camp and missed the first seven games of the season because of an infection in his back. He never got back to playing at the level he did in 2022 that prompted the team to sign him to a three-year, $34.5 million extension with $23 million guaranteed last April.
Two young players who also could benefit are end Tyler Lacy (15 games, 12 tackles) and outside linebacker Yasir Abdullah (five games, one tackle), neither of whom made an impact as rookies in 2023.
