Why Development, Investments Give Reasons for Optimism for the Jaguars’ Offensive Line
After the debacle that was the 2021 season for the Jacksonville Jaguars, optimism in the following offseason persisted thanks to quarterback Trevor Lawrence and a few other talents. What didn’t produce optimism was an offensive line that gave up 32 sacks and just saw one of their best linemen at the time, center Brandon Linder, retire.
PFF labeled the 2022 offensive line the seventh-worst group in the NFL. A year and change later, and Jacksonville is in different territory. In fact, there is an air of confidence over the current group, both the familiar faces in the starting lineup and the new blood.
Credit where credit is due: general manager Trent Baalke has picked his spots well. The Jaguars are getting value and improvement out of a positional area that they are only paying two players, tackle Cam Robinson and guard Brandon Scherff, high-end money.
With the addition of first-round talent Anton Harrison, the rest of the expected starters (Harrison, Tyler Shatley, Luke Fortner) are expected to make a $7.1 million dent in the Jaguars’ cap space per Spotrac. That’s good business.
Fortner performed far above expectations in 2022, while Shatley has been with the organization longer than anyone on the line and the type of utility player that the team can start.
But the key word here has been optimism. Harrison still has a lot to prove, but the comments coming from offensive line coach Phil Rauscher are highlighting his clear talent despite his youth, as Florida Times-Union reporter Demetrius Harvey recently highlighted.
“I'd say it's pretty rare," Rauscher said. "...His feet are the best I've seen out of a rookie. We drafted Christian Darrisaw when I was in Minnesota in the first round and Chrsitian's an unbelievable player, but foot-speed-wise, Anton's got him beat in that sense."
That’s high praise. Harrison will have a ton of responsibility for a rookie, but he’s also joining a culture that has embraced and supported young guys like Fortner, tackle Walker Little and Shatley before them.
Besides Harrison, another young talent that may get his chance sooner rather than later is guard Cooper Hodges.
As it stands, the seventh-round pick is booked to be the backup to Scherff. However, with Shatley already dealing with an injury and fellow guard Blake Hance being a year removed from a regular-season snap, Hodges could be expected to perform fairly quickly.
By all accounts, he’s done just that. No one in the group played more snaps than Hodges against the Cowboys, and his performance was described by head coach Doug Pederson as “pretty clean” and “good,” while Rauscher has said that his consistency has tightened up quickly in his first offseason as he starts to “stack” good practices together. This is all the while he’s learning directly behind Scherff, who has plenty of experience to draw upon when mentoring the rookie.
Perhaps even more important than Pederson and Rauscher’s comments are those belonging to quarterback Trevor Lawrence. The third-year QB has been sacked 59 times over the past two years, and limiting that rate even further is critical to his and the Jaguars’ success.
Speaking to the media after August 17’s practice, Lawrence made it clear that small injuries and new faces haven’t bothered him much. In fact, the 2022 Pro Bowler considers this group to be prepared despite any issues that have appeared.
“Hopefully those guys get back soon but whatever group is in there, the guys are prepared,” Lawrence explained. “We work really hard, and they’ve done a great job of getting up to speed. We’re really deep, so I feel confident with those guys, but obviously I never want to see those guys go down.”
There are still plenty of questions for this group: Can Harrison be a franchise tackle from Week 1, Does Hodges have what it takes to be a contributor, rotation or otherwise, etc. What is clear is that the Jaguars are seeing the upside materialize as the 2023 season nears, and that is all Jacksonville can hope for.
