The Jacksonville Jaguars spent last season living off takeaways, and that’s exactly why the real question hanging over this defense is so simple: can they do it again?
That’s the part that gets lost in the offseason chatter about Bhayshul Tuten and Chris Rodriguez Jr. trying to replace Travis Etienne, Travis Hunter’s role when he comes back, or whether the pass rush has enough depth to get through a season. Those are real issues. But the one that may matter most on defense is whether the turnover machine keeps humming after a huge spike in 2025.
The numbers tell the story. Jacksonville went from forcing only nine takeaways in the NFL to racking up 31 in Anthony Campanile’s first year as defensive coordinator. Only three games all season came and went without a takeaway, and the Jaguars went 1-2 in those matchups, with the lone win coming in overtime against a bad Arizona Cardinals team.
That kind of production doesn’t just happen by accident, and the Jaguars knew it. They opened the year with 14 takeaways in their first five games, including a four-game stretch to start the season with three or more turnovers in each game. After a four-turnover performance helped them beat the San Francisco 49ers by five points, Liam Coen was already talking about the danger of relying on that kind of swing from week to week.
“Yeah, I mean, look, we've talked about at what point are these going to not maybe come in bunches like this, and so defensively, although there's so many good things going on, there's still a lot of things to clean up that, okay, you don't get those turnovers."
"Well, what is the execution and the situational football and all that stuff looking like, and then offensively, well, we're not getting all these, we may not get all these different ops and field position. That is truly the process over results and the process that drives results.
But it is what it is right now, we've got to continue to… The good thing is, guys, the players know, I mean, being on the plane with these guys for five hours, they know this. They understand that this is unique in what's happening right now from a turnover situation, and we have got to execute much better in order for us to go play a game that maybe these turnovers don't exactly happen.”
The challenge now is obvious: Jacksonville can’t just assume the same turnover luck will show up again. Devin Lloyd is gone in free agency after being part of six takeaways the year before, including five interceptions and a fumble recovery.
His replacement is still to be determined, though the front-runner is fourth-year linebacker Ventrell Miller. He’s more of a downhill run defender and has only one interception in his career, which makes him a very different kind of answer than Lloyd.
So if the takeaway total is going to stay high, the Jaguars need more from the back end. Opposing offenses got the ball out quickly against Jacksonville at one of the fastest rates in the NFL last season, and the hope is that better secondary play forces quarterbacks to hold the ball longer. That, in turn, could give the pass rush more chances to affect plays and create turnovers.
There is reason to think the secondary can help carry that load. Travis Hunter was only on the field for stretches at cornerback over seven weeks last year, and now he is expected to take on a much larger role. That’s a heavy ask for any player, but the Jaguars clearly believe he’s special enough to make a major difference.
Antonio Johnson could also push the takeaway total higher. The fourth-year safety tied Lloyd for the team lead with five interceptions last season even though he was a backup for half the year. In 2026, he’s expected to be an every-down player, and that kind of expanded role could mean more ballhawking opportunities.
Of course, some of this still comes down to timing and fortune. The Jaguars did create a lot of their own breaks last season, from punch-out forced fumbles by Dennis Gardeck and even LeQuint Allen on special teams to the kind of disciplined, detail-driven football that puts defenders in position to make a play. But there were also the moments that can’t be scripted: tipped-ball interceptions, the right call at the right time against Patrick Mahomes in the red zone, and other bounces that went Jacksonville’s way.
That’s why this question matters so much. The Jaguars’ defensive rise last year was built in large part on turnovers. Whether that same formula holds in 2026 could go a long way toward deciding how far they go.
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Caleb Ransaw, Jalen Huskey and Rayuan Lane look like the main depth pieces in that mix, giving the Jaguars some continuity at a spot that usually sorts itself out quickly once camp gets rolling. The one wrinkle is whether anyone from the back end can force the team to think bigger, because keeping an extra safety would require a real rise from someone lower on the chart. [Read more 🡒]