Despite how good theJacksonville Jaguars’ defense was last season, they struggled to get sacks. In fact, only five teams in the NFL had fewer sacks than the Jaguars did, and four of them had losing records.
Even though sacks were hard to come by for this defense last year, in ESPN’s most recent predictions for the top 50 sack leaders this season, two players on the Jaguars made the list: edge rusher Josh Hines-Allen, who led the team in sacks last season with eight, and defensive end Travon Walker, who had 3.5 sacks last year while navigating injuries.
Hines-Allen landed at No. 14 on the list and is projected to have eight sacks -- the same sack total he's hit in each of the last two seasons. However, this should really be considered the floor
for Hines-Allen, who recorded 17.5 sacks in 2023, which was the second-most in the NFL that year.
He was also among the NFL's top pressure-getters last season, showcasing his ability to consistently get to the quarterback.
Walker will look to return to his previous form -- and perhaps go beyond that -- when he recorded double-digit sacks in each of the 2023 and 2024 seasons. By all accounts, he put together a strong showing throughout offseason programs and training camp. More opportunities to rush from inside could be coming Walker's way as well this year.
Now that Walker is fully healthy, he is poised to get back to what the Jaguars saw out of him in 2023 and 2024.
This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: ESPN predicts how many sacks top two Jaguars defenders will have in 2026
