Liam Coen on Dawuane Smoot's Return to Jaguars

Having edge rushing depth is important for a multitude of reasons and the Jacksonville Jaguars have struggled to address it for the last couple of seasons.

However, following the NFL Draft, general manager James Gladstone got to work by signing veteran defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah and most recently Dennis Gardeck. Gardeck will supply the Jaguars with a key special teams ace and pass rush depth while Ogbah provides experience having played on three teams in his soon-to-be 10 seaons in the league.

A third pass rush signing the Jaguars made is a popular one with the return of fan-favorite Dawuane Smoot, who spent seven seasons in Duval County before a one-year stint with the Buffalo Bills. Now, the ninth-year defensive end makes his return to Jacksonville under a different regime than the one he left two years ago.

The new regime of Gladstone and head coach Liam Coen have inspired a new sense of hope and excitement amongst Jaguars fans. Coen brings experience of getting the best out of his quarterbacks from Sean McVay-like offensive principles. Yet, it is the defensive ends that have gotten the most hype after the team made a serious push in adding talent to the position.

Coen said Smoot brings added competition to the room and already has experience from his previous tenure in Jacksonville. "Just again, continuing to add competition to the room, consistency, a guy that obviously has roots in this area and has strong friendships with some of the guys on the team," Coen explained.

Coen had spoken with strength and conditioning coach Eric Ciano, who had been with Smoot in Buffalo last season, about what the veteran pass rusher brings to the team.

"And then when you talk to guys that maybe have not been in this building, Eric Ciano, our strength coach, was with him in Buffalo and he just said he was a tireless worker in the weight room, on the practice field, consistently going," Coen said.

"You kind of had to pull him back at times, and that was something that continuing to get a little bit of veteran presence, guys that have played meaningful reps in this league that can give us some meaningful snaps hopefully and continue to create that competition we're looking for."

As Smoot begins his journey back with the franchise he was drafted by, Coen said that getting to know him has been "really cool."

Smoot joins a pass rush room of Josh Hines-Allen, Travon Walker, Ogbah, Gardeck, and Myles Cole that looks drastically different than the one he had left a couple of seasons ago. Look for Smoot to be a key rotational piece at edge rusher this season.

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