Gene Frenette: Jaguars using free agency to get more physical in trenches a good offseason start

After a relatively quiet free agency period last year for the Jacksonville Jaguars, and a knockout shopping spree in 2022, it was imperative for GM Trent Baalke to give this all-too-average roster a significant upgrade in several areas before the NFL Draft.

Did that happen? Yes, in the critical areas of both interior lines. Everywhere else, that’s still to be determined.

On paper, the Jaguars should be better than the physically-beaten-up defense that had Derrick Henry body bruises all over it when the season ended at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, but so is everybody else in the AFC South division.

The surprise of losing receiver Calvin Ridley to the hated Tennessee Titans was a setback. That won’t be made totally whole by signing a quality weapon in Gabe Davis, though better protection for quarterback Trevor Lawrence will almost certainly mitigate the receiver room subtraction even without a home run acquisition.

But above all else, what matters most is the Jaguars, thanks in very large part to investing $43.5 million on 6-foot-7, 290-pound defensive lineman Arik Armstead, made moves designed to being much less of a pushover at the line of scrimmage in 2024.

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Armstead gives the Jaguars’ defense some real punch. The ex-San Francisco 49er reuniting with Baalke, who drafted him in 2015, is the difference between this free agency class being a solid haul to sort of meh.

Look at it from this tradeoff standpoint: the Jaguars added Armstead and lost defensive lineman Foley Fatukasi, added safety Darnell Savage and let Rayshawn Jenkins test the market, added cornerback Ronald Darby and bid goodbye to Tre Herndon and Darious Williams, added outside linebacker Trevis Gipson and parted ways with first-round underachiever K’Lavon Chaisson.

With new defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen likely engaging in more press coverage and man-to-man schemes, the Jaguars’ roster turnover strategy was clearly designed for a better fit.

In addition, they signed younger receiver/return specialist Devin Duvernay to replace the productive veteran Jamal Agnew. Ex-Washington Commanders kicker Joey Slye came aboard to compete with Riley Patterson, so letting Brandon McManus go to the Commanders looks like a wash.

Judging by players Baalke opted to re-sign in safety Daniel Thomas, linebacker Caleb Johnson and running back D’Ernest Johnson, that’s a win for special teams.

Armstead brings tougher presence

When head coach Doug Pederson evaluated the team’s 1-5 finish, nothing likely had him fuming more than the defense getting pushed around the last two months of the season.

Opponents being held to 79.3 yards rushing per game the first half of the year, then jumping up to 124.9 yards in the second half was a direct reflection of a poor-tackling defense that was physically deficient.

The result was a season-ending crash against the Titans. It put most of the defensive staff on the unemployment line and prompted Baalke to acquire players with more of a bully mentality.

Nobody personifies that like Armstead, whose long, athletic body should be a godsend for the D-line. The Jaguars desperately needed a player with versatility to be a run-stopper and a pocket-pusher for edge rushers Josh Allen and Travon Walker.

The Jaguars haven’t had somebody who can play at an equally high level inside or outside since Calais Campbell (2017-19), probably the greatest free-agent acquisition in franchise history. Campbell (6-foot-8, 307) had a slightly bigger frame than Armstead, and his physicality and leadership traits were indispensable on and off the field.

Armstead will never be Campbell’s equal as a sack artist, which is fine because his greatest value is as an enforcer. He’s going to be a problem for offensive linemen, which should free up teammates to make more impactful plays.

“No one can do it on their own,” Armstead said after signing with Jacksonville. “I’ve seen a lot of situations where you don’t get the full potential out of guys because they’re not surrounded by other great players as well, too.”

Truthfully, that’s a spot-on assessment of the Jaguars the past two seasons. They have some good players, maybe a great one now in Allen and others potentially trending there in the future like Walker and Lawrence.

But for the moment, the Jaguars are average, maybe a tick above. That’s not good enough with the way the Houston Texans are ascending as a division favorite and the Indianapolis Colts not being far behind.

Though Armstead will be the second-oldest starter on defense behind Roy Robertson-Harris, his talent and veteran presence is a considerable upgrade for a unit that needs to stop getting bullied.

Fixing a tepid O-line

It’s obvious finding another receiving weapon for Lawrence should be a priority on the first two days of the NFL draft.

Still, none of that is as important as collectively providing the same physicality for the quarterback’s bodyguards that was paramount for the trenches on defense.

If the Jaguars are going to be a playoff team again, they must be able to get one lousy yard when that’s the requirement to move the chains. Jacksonville hasn’t been consistently good at doing that for a long time.

Baalke acknowledged the team’s shortcomings there when he signed Buffalo Bills veteran center Mitch Morse to a reasonable two-year, $10.5 contract, presumably to kick Luke Fortner out of his starting job.

Fortner was a third-round Baalke draft pick, so it speaks to the Jaguars’ weakness up front that the GM felt compelled to upgrade from a two-year starter.

Davis felt more comfortable about his decision to sign with Jacksonville knowing his ex-Bills teammate for four years was also coming, saying: “Mitch is my guy, a vet guy who I trust, a great player and great leader, great teammate and he’s helped me a lot in this league.”

The Jaguars don’t need Morse to be great, just consistently physical and a dependable anchor for a maligned O-line.

What that unit looks like across the board in Week 1, especially at left tackle, remains a fluid situation. The Jaguars opted to keep right guard Brandon Scherff, the team’s oldest player (32 years, 3 months), by restructuring his contract. They should do the same with right tackle Cam Robinson to lower his $21.9 million cap figure.

Keeping C-Rob, despite missing 14 games for injury or suspension reasons the past three years, is vital because nobody brings a greater element of nastiness to the O-line. The team gave Robinson a $54 million contract extension in 2022 because they valued his production, plus weren’t entirely sold on Walker Little being ready as the future at that position.

Just as the Jaguars needed Armstead to stabilize the D-line, it made moves in free agency for the same purpose on the other side of the ball. Besides signing Morse, they re-signed Ezra Cleveland at left guard and hope they have better luck staying healthy up front than in 2023.

Whatever becomes of the Jaguars next season, the one thing they had to do in free agency was fortify the trenches. Adding another piece or two from the draft would be a good idea.

Too many games were lost at the line of scrimmage last year, and that had to be corrected. It was the best thing the Jaguars did in free agency.

Gfrenette@jacksonville.com: (904) 359-4540; Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @genefrenette  

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Tired of being pushed around, Jaguars use free agency to upgrade trenches