The Jaguars’ most overlooked camp battle might be the one behind Dennis Gardeck.
Gardeck is locked in as the starter at strongside linebacker in Anthony Campanile’s defense, but Jacksonville still has a decision to make underneath him. The real competition is between Jalen McLeod, a second-year linebacker with upside, and Yasir Abdullah, a fourth-year veteran who already knows how to carve out a role.
Abdullah enters training camp with the cleaner résumé. Jacksonville picked him in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL Draft, and he has played in 29 games with three starts in 2024.
His biggest value has come on special teams, where he was a regular in 10 games last season. Over the last two seasons, he has played 72.5% of the snaps on Heath Farwell’s unit, logging 436 snaps there.
McLeod is the swing-for-the-fences option. The Jaguars selected him in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, but a training camp injury wiped out his rookie year and he never got on the field. That leaves him with a much shorter runway, even though the Jaguars clearly saw something in his upside.
And that’s what makes this battle interesting. Jacksonville probably isn’t carrying two backup strongside linebackers into Week 1, so this fight could decide who makes the roster, who lands on the practice squad, or who is gone altogether.
Special teams will matter, as it always does for backup spots. Abdullah has the edge there right now, and the Jaguars have already shown they’re willing to reward that kind of work. Last year, they moved on from Daniel Thomas and went with Day 3 safety and special teams ace Rayuan Lane.
But if Jacksonville is already accounting for special teams value and wants more from this spot, the conversation shifts to pass rush. That’s where McLeod has a real opening. He flashed pass-rush traits in college and again during the offseason program, and if he can translate that into actual production, he could change the picture fast.
Abdullah has already shown he can do some of that. When the Jaguars drafted him out of Louisville in 2023, the same questions followed, and since then he has recorded two quarterback hits. McLeod will need to prove he can get to the quarterback if he wants to win the job for 2026.
Gardeck’s role makes all of this more important. Last season, he handled the third-linebacker job in base defense, doing a little of everything: coverage, edge-setting against the run, and blitzing. As the year went on, he took on more of a third-down edge-rusher role too, giving Jacksonville a defender who could shift jobs without missing a beat.
That flexibility is part of why James Gladstone extended him this offseason. It also explains why the Jaguars need a backup who can do more than just fill a body count. They need someone they can trust on defense and on special teams.
Gardeck didn’t miss any time last year, so the backup spot never had a chance to become a major storyline. But if Jacksonville wants real depth there, this camp battle could matter more than it first looks.
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Jaguars Send 3 Pass Rushers To Sack Summit With NFL Elite
The Jaguars are sending three of their top pass rushers to the 2024 Sack Summit from July 9-11, a gathering for NFL edge defenders hosted by Maxx Crosby, Cameron Jordan and Von Miller. Josh Hines-Allen, Travon Walker and Arik Armstead will be among the players in the room, giving Jacksonville a chance to keep its front-line pressure group around some of the leagues most established names while the offseason still has room to shape their next step.
For Hines-Allen, it is another marker of a season in which he was among the leagues most productive pressure players. Walker arrives with the momentum of a recent extension that underscored how strongly the Jaguars still believe in his trajectory, while Armstead enters with a different kind of motivation after a hand injury affected his late-season production. The summit does not answer every question about what Jacksonvilles pass rush will become, but it does put three important pieces of it in the same place at the same time. [Read more 🡒]
Jaguars Veteran Is Forcing A Tough Backfield Decision In Camp
Ameer Abdullah has spent long enough in the league to know how camp battles work, and he is leaning on that experience in Jacksonville. Entering his 12th NFL season, the veteran running back is giving the Jaguars something every training camp needs: a steady hand in a crowded room, plus the kind of versatility that can help in more than one phase of the game. Coaches and teammates have taken notice of the way he works, especially as he helps guide a young backfield.
What makes Abdullah interesting is that his value is not limited to carries. He can help as a pass catcher and on special teams, which gives him a path to stick even as the Jaguars sort through their backfield mix. For a team that has to balance depth, roles and weekly game-day value, Abdullahs case is the kind that can make a late-summer decision tougher than it first looked. [Read more 🡒]
Jaguars Still Have One Huge Arik Armstead Question Up Front
Arik Armstead is still on the Jaguars roster as training camp opens, and for now that keeps one of the bigger questions up front from turning into an immediate roster move. The veteran defensive tackle is heading into the final year of his deal with a $19.385 million cap hit, and none of that money is guaranteed, which is why his status drew so much attention throughout the offseason.
Jacksonville weighed its options, but Armsteads presence on the defensive line still matters to a group that needs stability in the trenches. He also played through a hand injury late last season, and his production tailed off after a strong start, so the Jaguars are left balancing cost, health and value as they head deeper into camp with the decision still hanging over the front of the defense. [Read more 🡒]