With mandatory minicamp for the Jacksonville Jaguars beginning on June 9, let’s make an early 53-man roster prediction based on where things stand right now.
In the grand scheme of the NFL calendar, there is still a lot that has to unfold between training camp and the preseason before these final roster decisions have to be made. But the last few weeks of OTAs have provided us with a foundation for where things stand.
Here’s our latest guess on how things could shake out in the coming months.
Quarterback (2)
Trevor Lawrence, Nick Mullens
The Jaguars rostered just two quarterbacks on last season’s roster, so we’ll roll with that again.
Running back (3)
Chris Rodriguez, Bhayshul Tuten, LeQuint Allen
The Jaguars did roster four running backs for a large portion of last season. So that is what will be worth watching at this position when it comes to the final roster construction. Can J’Mari Taylor make a roster push?
Wide receiver (5)
Brian Thomas Jr., Parker Washington, Jakobi Meyers, Josh Cameron, CJ Williams
The additions of Cameron and Williams round out the back end of this depth chart. Travis Hunter will also be a factor at this position, giving the Jaguars six wideout options.
Tight end (4)
Brenton Strange, Quintin Morris, Nate Boerkircher, Tanner Koziol
Boerkircher will push Morris for playing time, while Koziol will take Hunter Long’s roster spot as more of a pass-catching option at the position.
Offensive line (10)
Cole Van Lanen, Ezra Cleveland, Robert Hainsey, Patrick Mekari, Anton Harrison, Walker Little, Wyatt Milum, Jonah Monheim, Chuma Edoga, Emmanuel Pregnon
With no roster turnover up front, I decided not to make any cuts and went heavy along the offensive line, keeping 10 on the roster with the addition of Pregnon.
Defensive line (10)
Josh Hines-Allen, Travon Walker, Wesley Williams, Zach Durfee, BJ Green, Arik Armstead, DaVon Hamilton, Ruke Orhorhoro, Albert Regis, Matt Dickerson
I did have to make a difficult cut here, moving on from Danny Striggow to help the roster math work out. Ultimately, I went with Green over Striggow because he played over 100 more special teams snaps last season, and that could be a key role for those players.
Linebacker (6)
Foye Oluokun, Dennis Gardeck, Ventrell Miller, Parker Hughes, Jalen McLeod, Jack Kiser
Hughes takes Branson Combs’ spot on the roster as the special-teams-first contributor.
Cornerback (5)
Travis Hunter, Montaric Brown, Jourdan Lewis, Jarrian Jones, Christian Braswell
The Jaguars could keep a sixth cornerback, although someone has to emerge to secure that roster spot. Rostering a sixth corner would also mean taking away a roster spot from another position group.
Safety (5)
Eric Murray, Antonio Johnson, Caleb Ransaw, Rayuan Lane, Jalen Huskey
The Jaguars’ safety depth is quite strong. And when it comes to putting together an early roster prediction, this position group seems to be pretty straightforward.
Special teams (3)
Logan Cooke, Ross Matiscik, Cam Little
No mystery here.
This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: Jaguars 53-man roster prediction before minicamp practices begin
Reporting by Paul Bretl, Jaguars Wire / Jaguars Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Paul Bretl, Jaguars Wire | USA TODAY Network
