Success has long been an issue for the Jagers, with the last five playoff appearances all coming non-consecutively – a far cry from the four that reached the postseason in their first five attempts as an expansion team from 1995-1999.
After this initial flurry of success, things dried up. Jacksonville reached the Wild Card round in the 2005 season and the division title in the 2007 campaign before a nine-year postseason drought. An appearance in the AFC Championship game in the 2017 season seemed to seal the corner, only for the Jags to post four straight losing seasons.
The 2022 league title again gave way to non-playoff campaigns, this time two, before Hines-Allen and Co. went 13 wins last season – but a wildly successful year that exceeded all expectations still ended with a loss to the Buffalo Bills.
Can the Jaguars finally keep the momentum going from one season to the next?
Hines-Allen plays a key role in his experiment. A two-time Pro Bowler, he excels among offensive linemen in defending the run and in 2025 led the team for the fifth time in his career. He also has reason to believe his best is yet to come.
Although he racked up a respectable eight sacks in each of the past two seasons, his most recent Pro Bowl campaign came in 2023, a 17.5-sack effort in his second year in then-defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell’s system. Hines-Allen, a big proponent of success in cultivating familiarity, envisions a similar jump in his second season under DC Anthony Campanile, who recently coached Jacksonville to its first top-10 ranking in points allowed since 2018.
“I think the sky’s the limit for myself this year,” Hines-Allen said. “Year 2 [in a new defensive system] I always find that to be the biggest leap. Year 1 is really feeling it. Obviously, you want to be the best player on the field at all times, but there will be many situations where you don’t know if you can make that decision. But going into Year 2 knowing that I’ve got the trust of the staff, the trust of the players to just go out there and be able to make more plays, just go out there and be a dog. They allow me to flourish in the system. (Defensive coordinator Anthony) Camp(anile) is doing a tremendous job of getting everybody in line, getting everybody open, making our extra points a lot stickier on the back end so we can get a chance to rush.
“I’m excited for this team. I’m excited for my journey. I think when I had 17 (sacks), it was the second year in that system, so for me to have that thought process and that mindset going into Year 2, I feel like I’m a better player than I was a few years ago. I’m really looking forward to this year.”