Jaguars' Brandon Scherff Ranked as a Top-3 Interior OL in NFL

The Jaguars' big-money guard has cemented his status as one of the best players on the roster and at his entire position group in the NFL.

When the Jaguars went on a spending spree this March, there was one player added to the roster who had a distinctly different resume than the rest: Brandon Scherff.

Scherff, who the Jaguars signed to a three-year, $49.5 million contract with $30 million in guarantees, stands out from the other free agent additions and even the rest of the roster because he has accolades and national recognition as one of the best at his position. 

This was solidified by Scherff being listed as the NFL's third-best guard or center in ESPN's recent ranking of the best interior offensive linemen. Only Indianapolis Colts guard Quenton Nelson and Dallas Cowboys guard Zack Martin were ranked above Scherff.

The lists, which ESPN says are compiled after the company "surveyed more than 50 league executives, coaches, scouts and players," listed a top-10 based on each position, along with honorable mentions and other players who received votes.

Here's how our process worked: Voters gave us their best 10 players at a position, then we compiled the results and ranked candidates based on number of top-10 votes, composite average, hundreds of interviews, research and film-study help from ESPN NFL analyst Matt Bowen. In total, more than 50 voters submitted a ballot on at least one position, and in many cases all positions. We had several ties, so we broke them with the help of additional voting and follow-up calls with our rankers." -- ESPN on their ranking process.

Scherff, who was selected No. 5 overall by Washington in the 2015 NFL Draft after a standout career at Iowa, has been among the NFL's best guards since he stepped into the league and has seemingly even closed the recent gap between him and Nelson, according to ESPN.

"Nelson tops this list for the third consecutive year, though with less conviction than in the past. Zack Martin and Brandon Scherff stole several of his first-place votes," ESPN wrote. 

"Scherff is elite when he's healthy and available, as the Jaguars highlighted with a three-year, $49.5 million free-agent deal with $30 million guaranteed. He led all guards with a 76.7% run block win rate last season, winning on 211 of 275 opportunities. The problem is Scherff has averaged 11.4 games played over the past five seasons. He started 11 games in 2021, and the last time he played in every game was 2016," 

ESPN

wrote.

Still, multiple execs picked him No. 1 here.

"Very quick off the ball to engage and stay locked into defenders," an NFC coordinator said. "In pass protection, [he] has strength to stop power rushes at the line of scrimmage. That's a good trait [versus] big defensive tackles. Good puller, too."

Scherff's pass block win rate dipped from 94.4% in 2020 to 93.0% in 2021, but that's nitpicky. He still ranked 27th among guards.With 89 career starts under his belt, he has been named a Pro Bowler five times and was a first-team All-Pro in 2020," 

ESPN

wrote.

Scherff has missed 24 career games due to injury in his career, including 22 over the last four years. With 89 career starts under his belt, he has been named a Pro Bowler five times and was a first-team All-Pro in 2020.

The big question with Scherff, who will start at right guard for the Jaguars, is his ability to stay healthy. But the Jaguars see Scherff as a "culture builder" who can set an example for the entire locker room with both his leadership and his consistently high level of play. He is also reuniting with Jaguars offensive line coach Phil Rauscher, who coached him in Washington.

"I think when you take a real deep dive into his injury history, it doesn't sound as bad as it is reported," Trent Baalke said in March. "I think the guy plays a lot of football [and] when he's on the field is as good as it gets. And the culture part of it was a big factor in the decision. And the fact that one of our coaches has worked with him in the past, knows him, knows him at every level, knows what he could bring to the organization and the offensive line in particular.

"I think all those things factored in, making it -- again, how often you get a potential Hall of Fame player that wants to come and play for a team that has struggled? And he wanted to be here for a lot of reasons.