Jacksonville Jaguars’ DT Maason Smith weighs in on the new defensive scheme under Anthony Campanile.

Under new defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile, the Jacksonville Jaguars’ defensive front will have the opportunity to play a lot more freely.

As second-year defensive tackle Maason Smith described at Tuesday’s OTA practice, rather than reading and reacting to what’s taking place, it’s now all about getting off the ball and into the backfield.

“I feel like we able to just play a lot more free instead of more laterally,” Smith said via News4JAX. “The coaches have told us from the first time they got here, they want to have more go, more getting off the ball, more penetration, whereas last year we were kind of playing more on the line of scrimmage.”

Collectively in 2025, the Jaguars need more from their defensive front. This was a unit last season that ranked 27th in ESPN’s run-stop rate metric and 32nd in pass rush win rate.

Smith would appear in 11 games as a rookie, totaling 14 pressures and three sacks. By PFF’s pass rush win rate metric, Smith ranked 99th among defensive tackles, and in run-stop rate, he ranked 124th.

Those metrics aren’t the be-all-end-all by any means, but in totality, the Jaguars need more from the defensive front, and a big jump in Year 2 from Smith will be an important part of that equation.

“It’s kind of the same technique,” Smith continued, “but it’s just more go, however you see fit kind of thing. If you take a shot, make it. If you miss it, that’s on you. But you know what I’m saying, you got that kind of leeway to make those plays and kind of see it as you fit.”

The thought throughout the offseason was that the Jaguars were going to add to the defensive line heavily, specifically the defensive tackle position, but that never materialized.

However, the fact that no such move ever happened in free agency or the NFL draft tells us the confidence that GM James Gladstone has in Smith, the other defensive tackles on the roster, and Campanile’s defensive system.

“We certainly look forward to seeing guys being in different positions than they’ve been in the past and that being an element that activates different sides of them,” Gladstone said after the NFL draft, via the team site. “Their whole approach has been great so far, so we’re looking forward to it.”