The Jaguars initial 53-man roster will be official Tuesday afternoon.
Who’s making the team? Who’s making the team, but might not make it to Thursday’s practice because of waiver acquisitions?
Here is our 53-man Jaguars roster projection heading into the regular season.
Who: Trevor Lawrence and C.J. Beathard.
Why: The Jaguars could keep three quarterbacks if Beathard is questionable for the opener against Washington on Sept. 11. That would be good news for E.J. Perry. My guess is the Jaguars hope Beathard will be fine and obviously Lawrence can go the distance against the Commanders.
Who: Travis Etienne, James Robinson and Snoop Conner.
Why: This is where coach Doug Pederson and general manager Trent Baalke should employ some gamesmanship. The Jaguars need a fourth back, but Mekhi Sargent would only be replaced on the waiver wire. So why keep him for a day? Keep three back for now, which would allow for…
Who: Christian Kirk, Zay Jones, Marvin Jones, Laquon Treadwell, Jamal Agnew, Tim Jones and Laviska Shenault.
Why: The Jaguars should move on from Shenault. The former second-round pick lacks explosiveness and offers little value. However, a receiver-needy team down the waiver wire list might not get who it hopes on Wednesday. The Jaguars could hang on to Shenault for 24 hours and try to work a Wednesday trade for a late-round pick. If nothing happens, the team should cut Shenault when it claims its fourth running back.
Who: Evan Engram, Dan Arnold, Chris Manhertz and Luke Farrell.
Why: No drama here is expected.
Who: Cam Robinson (left tackle), Ben Bartch (left guard), Luke Fortner (center), Brandon Scherff (right guard), Jawaan Taylor (right tackle), Walker Little, Tyler Shatley, Cole Van Lanen and Badara Traore.
Why: The health status of Traore and Will Richardson make the ninth spot a difficult projection. My guess is Traore makes the 53 but might then be placed on injured reserve.
Who: Foley Fatukasi, Roy Robertson-Harris, Dawuane Smoot, DaVon Hamilton, Adam Gotsis and Jay Tufele.
Why: Tufele could be a player that makes the team only to find out in a day he’s been cut for a waiver addition. If he makes the team and sticks, he should send Malcom Brown a nice Christmas card.
Who: Josh Allen, Travon Walker, Arden Key and K’Lavon Chaisson.
Why: The Jaguars are in good, potentially great, shape here. Chaisson shouldn’t be in danger of being cut.
Who: Foye Oluokun, Devin Lloyd, Chad Muma and Shaq Quarterman.
Why: Quarterman did enough spelling the injured Lloyd during training camp to earn the final spot.
Who: Shaq Griffin, Tyson Campbell, Darious Williams, Tre Herndon, Chris Claybrooks and Montaric Brown.
Why: I can’t see the Jaguars cutting two draft picks, so I’ll say Brown makes the team and they cut sixth-rounder Gregory Junior.
Who: Rayshawn Jenkins, Andre Cisco, Andrew Wingard, Rudy Ford and Daniel Thomas.
Why: Jenkins and Cisco need to stay healthy, but Wingard, Ford and Thomas are quality special teams players.
Who: James McCourt (kicker), Logan Cooke (punter) and Ross Matiscik (long snapper).
Why: McCourt looked good after joining the team last week. He will have a nervous 24 hours as roughly 30 kickers hit the market after final cuts.
The Jaguars will likely claim at least three players off waivers on Wednesday. Having the right of first refusal on any player cut that’s subject to waivers (most of them) is a huge advantage the Jaguars should take advantage of to help a subpar bottom third of the roster that was consistently exposed in the preseason.
(You can email Hays at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @HaysCarlyon).
It would be fair to say that a lot of expectations were placed on the young shoulders of Jacksonville Jaguars first draft pick Trevor Lawrence last season, and all in all, he delivered the goods, as least as far as he could do for a team that managed just one win in 2020. The 22-year-old Clemson graduate managed to hold his own in his rookie season and will be hoping to build on what he achieved in 2021 when […]
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