Ryan Nielsen was brought on by the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday to serve as the defensive coordinator. A day after the team’s failure to qualify for the playoffs with a victory, the Jaguars fired Mike Caldwell and other coaches and started the hiring process for a defensive coordinator.
Coach Doug Pederson made the following comment when Ryan was hired: “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 rundown of Nielsen’s career highlights (1997–2001) and what the Jaguars defense may anticipate in 2024. Nielsen played defensive tackle at USC.
In Atlanta, what did Nielsen do?
Nielsen spent the previous season with the Atlanta Falcons, where he had a noticeable influence as both their defensive coordinator and defensive line coach, following six seasons as a defensive line coach (and 2022 as co-defensive coordinator) with the New Orleans Saints.
With 202.9 yards allowed per game, the Falcons’ passing defense finished sixth in the NFL, while the Jaguars’ defense came in 26th (239.8). Atlanta also ranked fourth in red zone defense (45.3%) and third in third-down defense (33.8%).
The Falcons saw statistical improvements in seven areas from 2022; turnovers was the lone area of decline. In 2022, they forced 17, and in the previous season, 16. Most remarkably, under Nielsen, the Falcons increased the number of sacks they had from 21 in 2022 to 42 in 2023.
Atlanta only lost to the Carolina Panthers, 9-7, while holding seven opponents to under than 20 points in 2023. They won six of those games.
What sort of plan is he going to run?
Nielsen prefers an offensive strategy that uses a lot of man coverage. The Falcons were in man coverage 41.7% of the time, which is the third-highest percentage in the NFL behind the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. The Jaguars, in contrast, utilized zone coverage 82.8% of the time, which is the third-highest percentage in the NFL, only behind the Seattle Seahawks and Indianapolis Colts.
Because Pederson and Caldwell lacked the players to be competent in man coverage—especially with cornerback Tyson Campbell sidelined for six games due to a hamstring injury—the Jaguars utilized a lot of zone coverage.
In order for Nielsen to play more man coverage with the Jaguars, this offseason, acquiring a new cornerback had to be top of mind. While Darious Williams is entering the last year of a three-year contract he signed in 2022, Campbell is entering the fourth year of his rookie contract (his fifth-year option has not yet been picked up).
Who gains the most from the arrival of Nielsen?
After working with Nielsen for six seasons as his position coach in New Orleans, All-Pro Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan wrote the following on X (previously Twitter) when Nielsen departed the Saints for Atlanta in 2023: “Top tier DL coach in terms of developing pass rush and emphasizing technique on run game integrity.”
The Jaguars have serious problems in those two categories in 2023.
Josh Allen (17.5) and Travon Walker (10), the outside linebackers, combined for 27.5 sacks, but the rest of the defense managed just 12.5 sacks, with lineman Roy Robertson-Harris leading the way with 3.5. Even though the Jaguars’ rush defense (103.1 yards per game) ranked ninth in the NFL, they allowed 146.8 yards per game in their five defeats after an 8-3 start. One example of that was letting Derrick Henry run for 153 yards in the season-ending game, which was his highest total for the season.
It will be intriguing to observe whatever potential effects Nielsen may have on Walker. In New Orleans, Nielsen assisted in the development of DE Trey Hendrickson into a potent pass-rusher. In his fourth season, Hendrickson increased his sack total from four in Year 3 to 13.5.
For the second time in team history, Walker more than doubled his rookie sack total (3.5) in 2023, giving the Jaguars multiple players with double-digit sacks in a single season (2017). Walker only lined up inside as a pass-rusher 29 times last season; Nielsen might be more inclined to allow that to happen now.
Under Nielsen, defensive lineman Zach Harrison recorded three sacks as a rookie, while Falcons end Arnold Ebiketie went from 2.5 sacks to six sacks in 2023. This is encouraging for defensive lineman Davon Hamilton of the Jaguars, who missed the majority of training camp and the first seven games of the season due to a back illness. He never returned to playing at the same caliber as in 2022, which is why the organization signed him to a $34.5 million, three-year contract in April with a $23 million guarantee.
End Tyler Lacy (15 games, 12 tackles) and outside linebacker Yasir Abdullah (5 games, 1 tackle), two young players who did not have much of an impact as rookies in 2023, are two more guys who could be useful.
