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Yahoo
26-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Analyzing pass-rushing in the AFC South
Much like the pass-protection of the AFC South, the pass-rush leaves a bit to be desired. The Texans aside, the pass-rush of the other three teams last season were very weak, all ranking near the bottom of the league in pressure rate and sacks. Let's take a look at pass-rushing in the AFC South. Advertisement Houston Texans Few were better than the Houston Texans at rushing the passer last season. The combination of Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson Jr accounted for 148 pressures and 23 sacks last season. Hunter actually led the NFL in pressures, while Anderson finished tied for 17th according to Next Gen Stats. Tim Settle added another five sacks himself along the interior as did Derek Barnett, Houston's rotational pass-rusher. In total, the Texans racked up 241 pressures and 49 sacks, ranking second in pressure rate (37.8%) and fourth in sack rate (7.7%). Indianapolis Colts It's a steep fall off after the Houston Texans. While the Texans were near the top of the league, the Colts managed just 193 pressures and 36 sacks sacks on the season. The team's 31.4% pressure rate ranked 26th, while their 5.9% sack rate ranked only slightly better at 23rd. Advertisement Unlike the Texans or Jaguars, the Colts lack a true pass-rush specialist and rather have a pressure by committee. Even more so now after the loss of Dayo Odeyingbo, their top pass-rusher from last season. It's up to second-year Laiatu Latu to take a sophomore leap. Tennessee Titans Statistically, the Titans and Colts are very similar teams when it comes to rushing the passer. The Titans tallied 170 pressures and 32 sacks, notching a 31.1% pressure rate (27th) and a 5.9% sack rate (24th). Also similarly to the Colts, the Titans lost their best pass-rusher in Harold Landry, who led the team with nine sacks. The Titans does retain Jeffrey Simmons, their dominant interior defender, so the team will look to lean on him even more this coming season. Advertisement Jacksonville Jaguars It's strange finding the Jaguars 30th in pressure rate (28.3%) and sack rate (5.2%), despite boasting two top-15 edge rushes from last season. In fact, the Jaguars were the only team to have two players inside the NFL's Top-15 for most pressures. Despite Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker's best efforts, it simply wasn't enough. The Jaguars interior pass-rush and averseness to blitzing left Hines-Allen and Walker on their own to create pressure far too often. With the addition of Emmanuel Ogbah, and some reshuffling along the defensive line, there's no reason to ever see the Jaguars this low again. Pass-rushing in AFC South >>> STREAM ACTION SPORTS JAX 24/7 LIVE <<< Advertisement [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action Sports Jax 24/7 live.
Yahoo
20-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
It's crucial that Trevor Lawrence, Jaguars avoided sacks this year
Pressure causes sacks. Shocking statement, I know. But, what if I told you that sacks as a statistic are far more indicative of quarterback play rather than the offensive line. Let's take a look at sacks in the NFL and just what they mean to an offense. Sacks are a death sentence for offensive drives in the NFL. Since 2020, score rates drop from 41.2% on drives without a sack to just 23.3% on drives with at least one sack according to TruMedia. Advertisement The difference in points scored on those drives is even more drastic. On drives without a sack, teams scored an average of 2.26 points per drive compared to a mere 1.03 points per drive on those with at least one. A single sack on any given drive cuts a team's average points per drive by more than 50%. It's for this reason why offensive line play and thus a quarterback's ability to avoid sacks are so important. Everyone talks about how important pass-protection is, but not enough conversation is had regarding a quarterback's ability to avoid sacks. It might be the single-most underrated talent in the NFL today. >>> STREAM ACTION SPORTS JAX 24/7 LIVE <<< Advertisement An easy way to justify sacks being a quarterback stat rather than that of the offensive line is looking at the least sacked quarterbacks in NFL history by percentage. It's by no coincidence that Dan Marino, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Tom Brady, and Patrick Mahomes all find themselves within the top-ten. Avoiding sacks isn't just about escaping and making plays off script, it's also about knowing where to go with the ball when in the face of pressure. It's actually a fairly reliable way to evaluate quarterback talent. The active leaders in sack rate are Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Jared Goff, Tua Tagovailoa, Trevor Lawrence and Justin Herbert. Sack rate on pressured drop backs, however, is an even better indicator of a quarterback's ability to avoid sacks as it normalizes pressure rate differences between teams. For instance, due to the Jaguars' and Dolphins' extremely quick time to throw, it naturally reduces the chances of pressures occurring and therefore sacks as well. That's partially why Trevor Lawrence and Tua Tagovailoa's sack rates are so low. When looking at pressure to sack rates, none have been better than Mahomes and Allen. Advertisement Mahomes led in 2022 and was second in 2023. Allen led in 2023 and was second in 2024. For context, Mahomes' career pressure to sack rate is 12.4% and Allen's is 12.9%. In regards to the Jaguars, Lawence has historically been pretty solid at avoiding sacks, all the way back to his college days. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] Pressure to sack rates have been a fairly transferable statistic from college to the NFL. Trevor Lawrence's 16.4% pressure to sack rate in the NFL is nearly identical to his 16.7% rate during his final season at Clemson. While most pressure to sack rates don't change much over the course of a player's career, Lawrence has sadly regressed each of the last three seasons despite his pass-protection improving. According to Pro Football Focus, Lawrence posted a career best 14.5% pressure to sack rate (6th) in 2021. He then posted a 14.6% in 2022 (5th), 18.4% in 2023 (18th), and finally 20.0% in 2024 (17th). Each year, he's regressed in his ability to avoid sacks. It's hard to nail down the exact reason or reasons for this gradual decline. Lawrence's ability to create plays outside of the pocket has similarly declined over time. Advertisement In 2022, Lawrence ranked fourth in EPA per play. That number dropped to just 31st in 2023, and then all the way to dead last (40th) this past season. In 2024, Lawrence completed just seven of his 29 pass attempts outside the pocket (24.1%) according to Fantasy Points. For reference, that ranked 39th among 39 qualifying quarterbacks and quite frankly it wasn't close. Anthony Richardson, who was 38th, completed 40.4% of his attempts outside the pocket. Lawrence has shown that he's capable of being among the best in the NFL both at avoiding sacks and at producing outside of the pocket, however, that hasn't been the case the last couple of seasons. The additions of a new staff, interior offensive line, as well as Travis Hunter and Dyami Brown should do wonders for Lawrence in 2025. The support staff is there and better than ever for Lawrence, It's time for him to right the ship and get the Jacksonville Jaguars back to the playoffs. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action Sports Jax 24/7 live.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
The AFC South has an offensive line problem
The four teams in the AFC South have several things in common with one another. Two of those commonalities across the division are that each team fields a young quarterback and suspect offensive line. Those are not the two most ideal things to pair together. It certainly plays a part as to why the AFC South has struggled so mightily in recent years. Advertisement >>> STREAM ACTION SPORTS JAX 24/7 LIVE <<< The division holds the worst overall record for the last decade and it hasn't improved in the last five years either. When looking at pressure rates, the AFC South's members ranked as poorly as it gets. The Jaguars ranked fifth (27.4%), the Colts ranked 24th (37.2%), the Texans ranked 28th (37.9%), and the Titans ranked 31st (40.2%). The Jaguars pressure rate is skewed in their favor as the team's quick 'Time to Throw' limited the amount of possible pressure. When the team did allow pressure, they allowed pressure in an average of just 2.59 second (25th), according to NextGenStats. Advertisement It isn't just the pressure that is worrisome but the quarterback hits and sacks too. The Jaguars' Trevor Lawrence, Colts' Anthony Richardson, and Titans' Will Levis all missed time due to injuries last season. The only starting quarterback not to face injury was the Texans' CJ Stroud, who just happens to be one of the most sacked QBs. Stroud's 90 sacks over the last two seasons ranks second most, just one sack shy of the Panthers' Bryce Young. Despite these offensive line concerns, the Colts, Texans, and Titans all failed to improve this offseason along the frontline. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] If anything, they got worse. The Colts lost Will Fries and Ryan Kelly to Free Agency, adding little in return. The Texans traded star tackle Laremy Tunsil and lost Kenyon Green to Free Agency. Advertisement To fill the void left by Tunsil, the Texans added former Jaguar Cam Robinson. Trading an All-Pro tackle when your quarterback is among the NFL's most pressured is puzzling to say the least. Lastly, the Titans signed OT Dan Moore Jr. to a large contract, however, they also lost Dillon Radunz. Tennessee recently released Nicholas Petit-Frere as well. In the draft, the Titans failed to address the offensive line until the fifth round. It's hard to imagine any of these units dramatically improving. In fact, one could argue each got worse. Not the most promising campaigns to help support and protect the young quarterbacks of the AFC South. Despite the Jaguars likely having the best pass-blocking unit of the four teams, they were the only one to make a conscious effort to improve the blockade in front of their quarterback. Advertisement While the Jaguars lost Brandon Scherff and Mitch Morse, GM James Gladstone added four linemen in Free Agency: Patrick Mekari, Robert Hainsey, Chuma Edoga, and Fred Johnson. Gladstone then doubled down, adding two more in the NFL Draft: Wyatt Milum and Jonah Monheim. In a recent article, I discussed more about the Jaguars' offensive line and the additions made this offseason, however, it's important to note what the competition is doing as well. The AFC South has been plagued by poor offensive lines. The Jaguars' moves this offseason prove they mean to rectify that issue. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action Sports Jax 24/7 live.
Yahoo
27-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Jacksonville Sharks lose two in a row
The Jacksonville Sharks have lost two in a row after a fast start to the Indoor Football League season. The Sharks lost to unbeaten Quad City on Saturday night 61-42. Jacksonville trailed in the first half multiple times by double digits but a Kaleb Barker to Jaedon Stoshak touchdown made it 21-18 in the second quarter. Advertisement >>> STREAM ACTION SPORTS JAX 24/7 LIVE <<< The Sharks would trail at halftime 35-21 and never could get closer than seven points in the second half. The Jacksonville Sharks return home Saturday night to host the Iowa Barnstormers at 7pm. You can watch the game on the Action Sports Jax 24/7 Network if you can't make it to the arena. Also, watch Shark Bites Friday at 7pm and Saturday at 10am and 1pm weekly on the Official Streaming Network of the Jacksonville Sharks, the Action Sports Jax 24/7 Network. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action Sports Jax 24/7 live.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
UNF's first football game: Jacksonville Sharks become Ospreys for a night
The Jacksonville Sharks are becoming the UNF Ospreys for a night. The Indoor Football League team will share the Ospreys moniker on Saturday night as they host Massachusetts, and it will be celebrated as UNF's first football game ever. The University of North Florida doesn't have a football team, so the school and the Sharks partnered up for this promotion. Advertisement Jacksonville is 3-0 on the young season and will try to beat Massachusetts for the second time this season. On Friday's Brent & Austen Show, Ka'Ron Ashley joined the guys to talk about life in the IFL and playing pro football back home in Jacksonville. Make sure to listen to the conversation and also watch Shark Bites Friday night at 7pm and Saturday at 1pm and 6:30pm on the Action Sports Jax 24/7 Network. >>> STREAM ACTION SPORTS JAX 24/7 <<< You can watch the Sharks game Saturday night on the network as well. You can find it on the Action News Jax App and at home on your smart tv by downloading the Action News Jax Now app. Advertisement [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
