Jaguars OC Jay Gruden: Jawaan Taylor Has ‘Every Quality That You Want in an Offensive Tackle’

After a strong rookie season, Jaguars OC Jay Gruden is looking for an even bigger jump from second-year right tackle Jawaan Taylor.

When the Jacksonville Jaguars traded up in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft to select Florida offensive tackle Jawaan Taylor, they were hoping to land an edge protector to help lead their offensive line into the future. 

Through one season, it appears the Jaguars and Taylor are on the right track to fulfill any loft goals. Now, the Jaguars and their new-look offensive coaching staff will set their sights on how to help Taylor continue to ascend. 

"He’s got every quality that you want in an offensive tackle and the more experience he gets and handing some of the movement up front, the better he’s going to be," said first-year Jaguars offensive coordinator on Tuesday. 

As a rookie, Taylor started all 16 games for the Jaguars and played every single offensive snap, making him the only offensive rookie to do so last season. He battled through tests vs. dominant pass-rushers such as Von Miller, J.J. Watt, Cameron Jordan, Frank Clark, and more, proving to the Jaguars as a rookie that he is equipped to play in today's game. 

While Taylor had his issues at times with holding penalties, the young right tackle knows the areas he has to improve in, and from the looks of it he has been hard at work to ensure he takes a step forward this year.

"All the things I needed to improve on, I’ve been working on that so far this offseason. Even though the virus and stuff is going on, I still am focusing on the certain things I need to get better at," Taylor said earlier this offseason. "I did go back and look at different things I did well. It was a good year for me, but I can also do a lot better and I’m looking forward to next season coming up.”

Determined...🤐 pic.twitter.com/BzuqFlKue3

— Jawaan M. Taylor ♛ (@jawaan_taylor74) May 21, 2020

Taylor is far from a finished product, but he flashed enough ability throughout 2019 to encourage Gruden and the rest of the Jaguars' staff moving forward. Maybe the most encouraging aspect of his rookie year was his improvement from week-to-week, with most of his best comes coming at the end of the season.

Add in the fact that Taylor is a terrific athlete for the position and frequently made seasoned veterans look meager in comparison, and the arrow is pointing up for Taylor and the Jaguars' fortunes on the right side of the offensive line.

"He’s long, he’s athletic and he plays with the tenacity that you love from a tackle," Gruden said. I am very excited to get to work with him at right tackle. He can run, he can pull, he can get out there on screens, he’s physical in the running game and he can pass protect, he’s got great feet.

"I think that he’s one of the best right tackles in the game athletically and the more he plays and the more he sees, the better he is going to get. Coach [George] Warhop has done an excellent job with him.”

While the Jaguars still have work to do along most of the rest of their offensive line, they can take solace in the fact that Taylor has every quality a team looks for in a top-tier starter and his rookie year showed he not only belongs, but he has the ability to potentially dominate.