Is Eric Murray the answer to the Jaguars' concerns at safety?
There really isn't a confident answer as to who will start at either of the safety positions as there will be several players fighting for those starting roles, including Eric Murray, Darnell Savage,
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Antonio Johnson, Andrew Wingard, and Caleb Ransaw.
If you had to bet, however, it would be a good bet to say Eric Murray would be one of those two starters. Murray, 31, signed a three-year, $22.5 million contract with the Jaguars this offseason.
The idea was for Murray to replace Andre Cisco, who left to sign with the New York Jets.
Over the course of his career, Murray has notched three interceptions, 24 passes defenses, 10 tackles for loss, and five sacks. That said, Murray has primarily played as a rotational role player throughout his career.
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In his nine year career, he's only been a full-time starter in just three of them. The Jaguars are expecting more out of the veteran in Jacksonville.
One of those three seasons as a full–time starter came last season with the Houston Texans.
The Jaguars got a good look at just what Murray can do. In 2024, Murray allowed a completion rate of just 62.7%, 11th best of 64 starting safeties.
His passer rating allowed of 103.9 was just about league average for the position, according to Pro Football Focus.
The Texans moved Murray all around the defense. Murray played 303 snaps at box safety, 313 snaps at free safety, and 198 in the slot. While Murray did post 75 tackles in 2024, he saw some issues with missed tackles.
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His 15.9% missed tackle rate is a little rich for the Jaguars' blood, ranking 56th out of 64 safeties. In total, he missed 13 tackles on the season. The Jaguars have put an emphasis on tackling so this will have to be something Murray improves upon going forward.
Murray's shown he can be a solid, dependable player at the safety position. He may never be the playmaker Andre Cisco was, however, he's shown he's more than reliable on the back end.
That's just what they need after allowing the most deep balls of any team last season.
Even though Murray is 31 years old, he played the best football of his career last season. He has the full confidence of the Jaguars' staff to lock down one of the two starting safety spots.
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It'll be a clean slate for a revamped Jaguars secondary in 2025.
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