Jaguars DL Maason Smith is a Breakout Candidate

One area that the Jaguars would like to improve on is their defense. Last season, the defense was not good for the most part. But now, as they look forward to the new season, new opportunities will be there for all the players on the Jaguars' defense. The team has a lot of talented players on the defensive side of the ball, but they need to put it all together as a unit.

The new regime in Jacksonville will be good for them because it will be a fresh start. The Jaguars would like to be good at all levels of the defense. One thing that will help is their defensive line. Their front four will be important because if they get after the quarterback, that will help the rest of the defense. The Jaguars want to get after the quarterback at a much harder rate next season.

The Jaguars have some big names on the defensive line, but one player who can help the line out is defensive tackle Maason Smith. Smith was taken by the Jaguars in the 2024 NFL Draft. The Jaguars had high hopes for Smith last season in his rookie season but injuries slowed that down a bit in 2024. But now that Smith is healthy, he is looking to step up big for his team and have an impact.

David Helman of FOX Sports believes that Smith can potentially have a breakout season for the Jaguars and be important for their defense.

Jacksonville Jaguars: DT Maason Smith

"Smith is the classic case of a guy who saw the light toward the tail end of his rookie year. It wasn’t always a smooth ride, as the 2024 second-round pick was a healthy scratch six times last year. But once he got back into the lineup in Week 13, it seemed to click. Of Smith’s 17 tackles as a rookie, 12 came in the last six weeks of the season. The same can be said for his pass rush stats — 11 of his 14 pressures and two of his three sacks happened in December and January. If he can carry that progress over into Year 2, it’d be huge for a defensive front that already employs several quality pass-rushers."

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