The Jacksonville Jaguars appear to be a team on the upward trend as we approach the 2014 NFL season, and head coach Gus Bradley has some interesting plans for his defense that he hopes will help them to emerge from the cellar of the AFC South.
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In order to be a more versatile defense, Bradley has introduced a new linebacker position named “Otto.”
The “Otto” linebacker will be replacing the “Sam” position.
Introducing the new Otto position comes one year after the Jaguars added a Leo position, whose purpose is to rush the passer.
But what will the Otto do?
From the Florida Union-Times:
"The goals in creating the Otto: Be more multiple in their looks without radically changing the personnel, help a run defense that was 29th in the NFL last year, provide another option for a pass rush that was tied for last in the league and have a player who is comfortable in coverage."
The current plan in Jacksonville is to have Dekoda Watson man the Otto position.
Jacksonville signed Watson early in free agency, after he had a solid 2013 campaign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
While Watson will be serving in his Otto duties, Paul Posluszny will continue to work at Mike while Geno Hayes will still serve as the Will. For both men, they can now focus on their responsibilities while Watson fills out his new role.
“It’s exciting to know we’re going to have some people who will now concentrate on specific aspects of their game and not have to worry about what the other two linebackers will be doing,” Posluszny said.
The Jaguars are working hard to improve on both sides of the ball and they spent some money bringing in quality players to bolster their defense, so it will be interesting to see how their new talent and the new Otto position changes the looks that they bring to the field and the success that they have on it.