With Patrick Graham Out of the Picture, Should the Jaguars Consider Rob Leonard?

It appears the Jacksonville Jaguars and Las Vegas Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham will not be paired together in 2025.

With Graham working toward a deal to remain with the Raiders, the Jaguars will now look elsewhere at defensive coordinator. One top candidate appears to be Green Bay Packers linebackers coach Anthony Campanile, while the Jaguars have also interviewed Los Angeles Rams assistant head coach and passing game coordinator Aubrey Pleasant, Minnesota Vikings defensive backs coach Daronte Jones, and Carolina Panthers secondary coach Jonathan Cooley.

Graham had two interviews with the Jaguars about their head coach role and also interviewed once for defensive coordinator.

With Graham now officially out of the picture, though, should the Jaguars do the next best thing and find a role for Raiders defensive line coach Rob Leonard? Leonard is viewed as a protégé of Graham and has helped the Raiders’ defense seriously overachieve in recent seasons.

One NFL source told Jacksonville Jaguars On SI, “If the Jaguars were serious about Patrick Graham, then Rob Leonard is the Ben Johnson of rising young defensive coaches set to be the next coordinators. He could be a great mix with Liam Coen.”

Coen spoke to reporters on Monday about what he is looking for in the role, which is set to be arguably the most important hire the first-year head coach makes in 2025.

“I’m gonna be involved, but it’s more the shared vision of the identity, the style of play. How do we continue to drive home the message of the style of play that we want to work with and play with that’s within the meetings, like being in the meeting sometimes,” Coen said.

“I’m going to be very involved, obviously, as we know, with the offense and Trevor and all that, but being just the presence felt, and doing more team meetings and doing them together so that, like we talked about this, where it’s not Offense, Defense, Teams, it’s here. So I’ll be involved, but I’m not going to be overbearing. I want that guy to have autonomy. I want that guy to have confidence, to be able to go and do it, and feel like his personality and his moral compass is showing on the product.”

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