Urban Meyer wants to build Jaguars defense around the defensive line

[Jaxson De Ville]

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The Jaguars are heading into the start of the new league year with the first overall pick of the draft and voluminous salary cap space.

We’ve got a pretty good idea that they’ll be picking quarterback Trevor Lawrence with the first pick and head coach Urban Meyer may have given a hint about the plans for later in the draft and that cap space on Tuesday. He noted that the Jaguars “really struggled in a lot of areas” on defense and that he knows which spot he wants to address first.

“I always believe you build your team around the defensive line, and then you move backwards — so that’s what we’re going to do. . . . There is one commonality of great teams: they have great defensive lines,” Meyer said, via the team’s website. “You can’t avoid that. There are ways to hide other things, but you have to have a strong defensive line. We’re committed to do that here.”

Meyer said he thought the team has “some great young pieces” in defensive end Josh Allen and defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton, who Meyer knows from Ohio State. They also have recent first-round picks Taven Bryan and K’Lavon Chaisson, but Meyer’s words suggest there will be some new faces up front in Jacksonville.