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From 2022-2025 Devin Lloyd and Foyesade Oluokun made up one of the best linebacker duos in the NFL and were the heart and soul of the Jacksonville Jaguars’ defense.
This season, for the first time since joining Jacksonville, Oluokun will be without his long-time running mate after Lloyd left for the Carolina Panthers via free agency and will have a much larger leadership role for the Jaguars.
Entering his fifth season with Jacksonville and ninth season overall, Oluokun has become known as one of the league’s best tacklers. The former sixth-round pick by the Atlanta Falcons has registered more than 100 total tackles for six straight seasons and led the NFL in solo tackles in 2022 (128) and 2023 (111). Along with racking up the tackle totals, Oluokun is also a sure tackler, with a career 8.5 missed tackle percentage.
Although his solo tackles have dipped the past two seasons and will be 31 once the 2026 season begins, Oluokun is still adding to his game this offseason according to head coach Liam Coen.
Coen said he has been impressed with Oluokun’s pass coverage during offseason workouts.
“It showed up last week in a two-minute situation. He gloved one of the running backs on an option route,” the second-year head coach said of Oluokun after practice on June 15. “His brain works at a high level and he can understand release patterns, whether it’s a tight end or a running back. He understands the release and what that route could look like.”
Last season opposing quarterbacks completed 82.1 percent of their passes against Oluokun and he had just one interception on the year, but he allowed zero passing touchdowns and had a career high 11 passes defended in 2026.
Coen said a player like Oluokun can thrive more when he can see the play in front of him.
“I also think vision-zone coverage helped him. Not being in man-match all the time and having your eyes on the receiver,” Coen said. “Having your eyes on the quarterback and being able to read his eyes and see the route start to distribute and then his studying, training and habits allow him to play fast.”
While a weakside linebacker is usually primarily focused on pass coverage and backside pursuit in the run, Oluokun blitzed the quarterback 72 times (the most he’s blitzed since joining Jacksonville in 2022) last season, registering two quarterback hurries, two quarterback knowdowns and five quarterback pressures. Oluokun has 11.5 career sacks but has never had more than three in one season.
“I thought he was an underrated pass rusher last year and I think he’s just getting better and better,” Coen said.
As a team, the Jaguars had a 21.5 percent quarterback pressure rate, where No. 27 in the league in sacks (32), No. 29 in percentage of time sacked when attempting a pass (4.8), but were No. 2 in the NFL in interceptions with 22.
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This season, for the first time since joining Jacksonville, Oluokun will be without his long-time running mate after Lloyd left for the Carolina Panthers via free agency and will have a much larger leadership role for the Jaguars.
Entering his fifth season with Jacksonville and ninth season overall, Oluokun has become known as one of the league’s best tacklers. The former sixth-round pick by the Atlanta Falcons has registered more than 100 total tackles for six straight seasons and led the NFL in solo tackles in 2022 (128) and 2023 (111). Along with racking up the tackle totals, Oluokun is also a sure tackler, with a career 8.5 missed tackle percentage.
Although his solo tackles have dipped the past two seasons and will be 31 once the 2026 season begins, Oluokun is still adding to his game this offseason according to head coach Liam Coen.
Coen said he has been impressed with Oluokun’s pass coverage during offseason workouts.
“It showed up last week in a two-minute situation. He gloved one of the running backs on an option route,” the second-year head coach said of Oluokun after practice on June 15. “His brain works at a high level and he can understand release patterns, whether it’s a tight end or a running back. He understands the release and what that route could look like.”
Last season opposing quarterbacks completed 82.1 percent of their passes against Oluokun and he had just one interception on the year, but he allowed zero passing touchdowns and had a career high 11 passes defended in 2026.
Coen said a player like Oluokun can thrive more when he can see the play in front of him.
“I also think vision-zone coverage helped him. Not being in man-match all the time and having your eyes on the receiver,” Coen said. “Having your eyes on the quarterback and being able to read his eyes and see the route start to distribute and then his studying, training and habits allow him to play fast.”
While a weakside linebacker is usually primarily focused on pass coverage and backside pursuit in the run, Oluokun blitzed the quarterback 72 times (the most he’s blitzed since joining Jacksonville in 2022) last season, registering two quarterback hurries, two quarterback knowdowns and five quarterback pressures. Oluokun has 11.5 career sacks but has never had more than three in one season.
“I thought he was an underrated pass rusher last year and I think he’s just getting better and better,” Coen said.
As a team, the Jaguars had a 21.5 percent quarterback pressure rate, where No. 27 in the league in sacks (32), No. 29 in percentage of time sacked when attempting a pass (4.8), but were No. 2 in the NFL in interceptions with 22.
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