Will overhaul in talent on D pay off for Jags?

When Dave Caldwell and Gus Bradley were hired by the Jacksonville Jaguars back in 2013, they took over a team that had just finished 30th in the NFL in both yards and points allowed. After three full seasons at the helm, not much has changed for the Jacksonville defense on the stastical surface.

The 2015 Jags finished 24th in yards allowed and 31st in points allowed. In many other defensive metrics, things have largely stayed the same under the new regime as they were the year before they took over.

One thing that has changed drastically, though, is the personnel. Of the 32 players that stepped on the field for the Jaguars defense in 2012, only three remain with the team: linebacker Paul Posluszny and defensive linemen Ryan Davis and Tyson Alualu. The other 29 are all gone. Some, like Brandon Marshall, Terrance Knighton, Darryl Smith, and C.J. Mosley, are thriving to different extents elsewhere. Others are out of the league altogether.

In three offseasons prior to this one, the Jaguars devoted just north of 53 percent of their free agent spending to defensive players, but invested most of their draft capital (determined by the Jimmy Johnson draft value chart) in building out an offense. This offseason, though, the Jags ramped up the devotion to defense, using all but one of their draft picks on defensive players after spending nearly 60 percent of their free agent money on defense as well.

*Initial calculation includes No. 3 pick Dante Fowler Jr., who tore his ACL in camp and did not play in 2015. Parenthetical calculation does not include Fowler.

Six of Jacksonville’s seven 2016 draft picks were used on defensive players, the lone exception being Arkansas quarterback Brandon Allen. Their first two picks – former Florida State safety Jalen Ramsey and former UCLA linebacker Myles Jack – were considered by some to be the two best defensive players in the draft. After taking those two early, Jacksonville loaded up on defensive linemen in the second half of Day 2 and Day 3. Sheldon Day, Yannick Ngakoue, Tyrone Holmes and Jonathan Woodard can provide depth behind all those expensive free agents the Jags have dropped coin on over the last few years.

Malik Jackson got $85.5 million over five years to come to the Jaguars this offseason. Jared Odrick got $42.5 million …

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