Jaguars' defender named breakout candidate for 2026 NFL season

The Jacksonville Jaguars lost one of their star players in the offseason when linebacker Devin Lloyd left in free agency. Lloyd's departure was largely money-based, and his loss was a major contributor to the Jaguars' lower position in offseason power rankings.

Yet from the beginning, it appeared that Jacksonville had a replacement for Lloyd already on the roster: Ventrell Miller. His role in the Jaguars defense has been steadily growing, and now, he's being named a breakout candidate.

Internally, the Jaguars are quite bullish about Miller and the impact that he can have.

Bradley Locker of Pro Football Focus assembled his 2026 NFL All-Breakout team, in which he predicts who the next great player at each position will be. At linebacker, that's Miller, who Locker said is poised to become a household name.

Working as a backup last season, Miller was very effective, netting a 72.6 overall PFF grade on 220 snaps. His best work came against the run, where he secured an 82.8 PFF run-defense mark that sat 15th among all linebackers. While Miller was diminished against the pass throughout his larger body of work, he earned at least a 69.2 PFF coverage grade in three of his last four games —suggesting he has more in the tank.

With Devin Lloyd now in Carolina, the Jaguars are searching for a legitimate complement to Foye Oluokun. Based on the team’s roster construction, it seems like that’s poised to be the third-year Miller.