Luke Joeckel in Make-or-Break Year in 2015

General manager David Caldwell had a herculean task ahead of him when he took over the Jacksonville Jaguars after a dismal 2012 regular season. While the team’s 2-14 record personified the historically dismal state of the roster, the low win total did provide Caldwell with a valuable asset in his first offseason – the 2nd overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft. Considered one of the weakest draft classes in recent memory, Luke Joeckel and Eric Fisher were considered the top 2 overall prospects by many analysts. Caldwell agreed, as he took Joeckel with the 2nd pick to become the team’s left tackle of the future.

After 4 rocky games at right tackle, Joeckel played all of 12 snaps at left tackle before his rookie season came to an end with an ankle injury. After rehab, Joeckel came back in year 2 and played every snap at left tackle. He finished with a (-15.8) overall grade from Pro Football Focus, ranking 67th out 84 eligible tackles in 2014. That’s not great, considering Joeckel’s high draft status and the expectations for him coming out of Texas A&M. To be fair, Eric Fisher hasn’t fared much better, as his (-17.5) overall grade in 2014 ranked 72nd among eligible tackles.

So 2 years in, what on earth are we supposed to think about Luke Joeckel? Robert Brewer over at NFL Spin Zone took a deeper look at Joeckel, and he sees a guy who should have a solid career, but will never be an elite player.

"Joeckel appears to have the makings of a solid starting left tackle. However, I saw that Joeckel can be taken advantage of by elite level pass rush athletes like J.J. Watt, Brian Orakpo, and Jason Pierre-Paul at times. After getting beat by quicker defenders, Joeckel’s form can sometimes get sloppy which could result in holding penalties due to lunging and grabbing…In my opinion, Joeckel’s upside is more limited than most experts originally thought…At the end of the day, I think Joeckel will be a good but not great left tackle for a number of years. Rather than comparing him to a stud like Joe Thomas, I think that comparing Joeckel to former Detroit Lions’ left tackle Jeff Backus would be more accurate…"

It’s hard to disagree with Brewer’s assessment, as Joeckel really didn’t perform too well against top competition. Still, I’m not going to hold it against Joeckel that he wasn’t able to contain a guy like J.J. Watt.

I agree with Brewer in the sense that Joeckel will likely never be an All-Pro left tackle, but I do think Joeckel can play well enough to not be a liability. It might seem naive to frame it in this manner, but Joeckel really didn’t have a rookie season. He only played a few snaps at left tackle before being injured, then he spent his entire offseason rehabbing from that injury. His second season in the NFL was really his first full slate of action on the left side, and he did so with an inordinate amount of young players around him on offense, including quarterback Blake Bortles.

Brewer is right in saying 2015 is a make or break year for Joeckel, and I expect Luke to improve to the point where the Jaguars are comfortable keeping him at left tackle for the foreseeable future.

Next: Marcedes Lewis on the trade block?

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