Jacksonville Jaguars Cut To 57
By Luke Sims
Oct 27, 2013; London, United Kingdom; Jacksonville Jaguars offensive line coach George Yarno (left) talks with guard Mike Brewster in the NFL International Series game against the San Francisco 49ers at Wembley Stadium. The 49ers defeated the Jaguars 42-10. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
On Friday the Jacksonville Jaguars roster cuts began and the team trimmed down to a lean 57. They will need to cut down to 53 by 4:00pm today, Saturday, August 30.
Most notably, the Jaguars cut down to just two quarterbacks: rookie Blake Bortles and incumbent starter Chad Henne. The Jags waived Ricky Stanzi and Stephen Morris, both of whom showed that they did not deserve playing time during the course of the regular season.
Another notable cut was center Mike Brewster, who seemed to be the likely starter coming out of training camp. With his departure, the Jaguars will turn to rookie Luke Bowanko or Jacques McClendon, both of whom have much higher upside than Brewster and showed they could compete on a similar level during training camp.
Aside from these cuts, the primary focus was on culling a crop of rookies. They include:
- OT Cody Booth
- DL DeAndre Coleman
- DT Ricky Havili-Heimuli (who has one of the best last names ever seen on a jersey)
- S Craig Loston
- K Kasey Redfern
- G Tyler Shatley
- D.J. Tialavea
- LB Marcus Whitfield
Also waived were:
- FB Eric Kattani
- G Drew Nowak
- DE Gerald Rivers
- WR Chad Bumphis
- TE Brandon Barden
The final four cuts will be tough for the Jaguars as they try and balance their young talent with veteran presence. The Jaguars’ roster has a lot of upside and GM Dave Caldwell will be forced to decide on players he would most certainly like to see more of. As other teams jettison players it will also be interesting to see if the Jaguars make a move for a veteran guard to play on the suspect offensive line or if Caldwell feels that the Jaguars have enough “gel” for the season and will be able to compete with what they have currently.
Every Jaguar selection from the 2014 draft will remain with the team thus far.
For more on the Jaguars’ roster moves, take a look here at Jaguars.com and also at jacksonville.com.