Why Jaguars new defense will help Andre Cisco become one of NFL’s best safeties

Each year, a new crop of players rises to the ranks of the elite at their respective positions. Whether it be because of new coaching, being unlocked in a new scheme or just the general continuation of development and growth, new players establish their place in the upper echelon of the NFL every year. Over the next few days, we’ll be highlighting these players who are up next in the NFL hierarchy, and are candidates for a breakout season in 2024.

When defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen was hired by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the offseason, there was naturally a lot of hype and excitement. Nielsen was coming off his first season as a coordinator in Atlanta, where he turned a Falcons’ defense that was downright dreadful in 2022 into a group that finished in the top ten of EPA per play allowed, according to Sumer Sports. A large part of that defensive improvement was the signing and unleashing of safety Jessie Bates. Bates became a Pro Bowler under Nielsen, showcasing his range and ability to make plays on the ball in Nielsen’s defense that requires range and instincts from their safeties. Plays like this one, where Bates is lined up on the roof of the defense, sees the backside dig, and cuts it off for the interception.

Now, I want to ask you: do these two plays look similar?

The player on the bottom is Jacksonville Jaguars’ safety Andre Cisco, who finally looked healthy last year three years removed from tearing his ACL in college at Syracuse. Cisco’s NFL career has been one of multiple ups and downs, from being good in spots moments early in his career, to Urban Meyer forgetting who Andre Cisco was:

I will never forgive you, Urban.

Now, entering a contract year with the Jaguars, Cisco is coming off the best year of his young career and looking to be a defensive centerpiece for the Jaguars. In fact, the Jaguars’ EPA per play is better with Cisco on the field compared to when he was off. His range and ability to wear multiple hats for Jacksonville helped the Jaguars get off to a great start in 2023 before injuries made the wheels fall come off his season.

Now, with Nielsen pulling the strings in Duval, Cisco is primed to be used in a Jessie Bates role and thrive.

One of the areas where Andre Cisco really stands out is making plays on the ball. He had four interceptions last year, and had a large amount of plays where he’s coming off the roof in quarters or flying across his half of the field to make plays in Cover 2. His 0.3 Yards per Coverage Snap as a deep safety in those coverages is tied for 11th in the NFL, and you could see him get even better in those schemes all season.

This play is from the first game of the season, where Cisco’s range and instincts really show up. The Jaguars are going to make a late rotation to Cover 2, with a linebacker supposed to be running down the pipe of the defense as the Tampa defender. There’s nobody to do that, however, and it looks like this big post is going to go for a big play, with inside leverage on Rayshawn Jenkins.

Cisco flies across his half of the field and is able to get back under this ball to make the interception. This type of range and ballhawking ability is going to get a lot of play in Nielsen’s defense, which led the NFL in snaps of Cover 2 Man and were top ten in Middle Field Open coverages, per Sports Information Solutions.

Cisco also showed a quick trigger off the roof in Quarters coverage, driving hard on dig routes and intermediate concepts over the middle to force incompletions. Having a safety who can be this kind of instinctual player in the middle of the field can unlock so many things for a defense, and free up responsibilities from linebackers who can be used to add on as a blitzer. Against the Saints, he showed that ability to force incompletions coming off the roof as New Orleans tried to run a dig in front of him. Cisco is always hunting for the ball, and the four interceptions he had in 2023 are a good way to show how it pays off.

Where the rubber really starts to hit the road with Cisco being used like Jessie Bates in Nielsen’s defense is in the blitz paths and packages both were used on. Bates and Cisco both had around the same amount of pass rush snaps (15 for Cisco, 13 for Bates), but Bates had around a 38.5% pressure rate, while Cisco topped out at 13.3%. This is where Nielsen comes in, dialing up pressures that can get Cisco the same free runs as Bates had on the occasions he blitzed. This one in particular stands out from Atlanta, because instead of bringing Bates off the edge, he sends him flying right down the alley of the offense, and it moves the QB off his spot and forces an incompletion.

Cisco’s pressure rate was low for a blitzer, but when he timed his rush correctly he was able to get quite a few free runs at the QB. With Nielsen coming in to work with the team, we should be able to see more of this as the season goes along, Cisco being fully unlocked to be a playmaker in this defense.

Cisco has already begun to get noticed by scouts and GMs across the NFL. In Jeremy Fowler’s top 10 safety rankings, Cisco was an honorable mention, with this being said about the fourth-year safety: ”He can generate turnovers at an elite level. He’ll be a 30-plus career interception guy,” an NFC coordinator said. Training camp doesn’t always translate to regular season success, but by all reports coming out of Duval Cisco has been outstanding in camp.

If the contract year bump is real, Cisco is on track for a monster year at safety, and could look to how Ryan Nielsen used Jessie Bates as inspiration.