Jaguars’ Preseason Surprise Might Shake Up the AFC South

One of those position groups is the pass-rusher unit, which has long been headlined by star pass-rushers Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker. The duo has put together back-to-back seasons of pass-rushing dominance, but the Jaguars have long looked for solution to their pass-rush depth.

Then, the 2025 preseason happened and the Jaguars' search ended.

The Jaguars had two pass-rushers take great strides over the course of the preseason, proving to be the sparkplug speed rushers off the edge the Jaguars had been missing.

As a result of undrafted rookies BJ Green and Danny Striggow each providing consistent pass-rush and giving the Jaguars' defensive line an edge they previously didn't have, the surprising rookies cracked the 53-man roster.

"As I point back to my time with the Rams, the undrafted college free agent process was something we took a lot of pride in. We deployed a very similar operation to what we did there. Liam participated in that operation when he was just a position coach, and so we know it well," Jaguars general manager James Gladstone said this week.

"Got to give a lot of credit to our position coach and also our scouting staff who were paired together to sign those two guys after the draft, identify those two guys as the highest priority of the position because we didn't draft anybody at the position group. Obviously at the time, that was something that in the recruitment efforts was intriguing to both those guys. They saw a path to potentially find a spot. Obviously, that's been earned."

Green and Striggow each earned their spots on the team, with the duo consistently coming through for the Jaguars when their numbers were called. And now, they are set to play key roles as rookies.

Rookie Impact

"I think, as you guys followed us through the preseason, it became abundantly clear that those two guys were making a dent in real live performances, and that was the case in practice settings, and both showing up not only on the phase of defense, but also special teams. To find players at that position who can contribute on special teams isn't always easy," Gladstone said.

"They're made of the right stuff. They committed themselves to the process, accepted the coaching, and it's panned out. Excited for both those guys. Excited for that room and really the outlook there, and really happy with how it unfolded, pointing back to our coaches and scouts working in tandem to really get those deals done."

And it is the result of their performances that the Jaguars now have their deepest and most versatile edge rusher depth in some time, with the duo being joined by Hines-Allen, Walker, Dawuane Smoot, Emmanuel Ogbah, and linebacker/pass-rusher hybrid Dennis Gardeck.

Thanks to that group, the entire AFC South may now be put on notice in the first year of the Jaguars' new regime and a new defensive scheme led by coordinator Anthony Campanile.

"And in addition, you talk about the basketball team of the wide receiver group being different genres, sometimes it's pretty cool to look at how a position is constructed in that at the defensive end position, we have two guys that were top 10 picks. We didn't draft anybody," Gladstone said.

"We ended up signing a few guys as undrafted college free agents, two of which end up making the 53-man roster as rookies. Then you've got two veteran presence in [DL] Emmanuel Ogbah and [DE] Dawuane Smoot, who we signed after the draft. So it's a makeup of a room that is coming from all different forms of acquisition, and it's pretty cool to see that take shape and people earn their ops and earn their place."

Comment on our Facebook page for this take on the AFC South WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.