Jaguars: Can Luke Joeckel out-battle Kelvin Beachum?

For many Jacksonville Jaguars fans, Luke Joeckel is the past and Kelvin Beachum is the future, but can Joeckel hang on?

For a second overall pick, many fans of the game and experts expected more out of offensive tackle Luke Joeckel. Since transitioning to left tackle in his rookie season he has struggled with injury, getting up to weight, and performing at an above average level.

2015 was almost a breakthrough year for Joeckel. He managed to not be a part of the problem and performed well in some games. His only clear-cut disaster was in Week 17 against the Houston Texans in which he was ruthlessly exploited.

Mediocrity is not what people expect from first round players and especially not from players that were drafted second overall. Joeckel has battled up to at least mid-level performance and he could go higher, but it may be time to move on. We’ve seen enough.

Kelvin Beachum, signed this offseason, is expected by many observers to take it to Joeckel and win the starting left tackle job. Even nationally it is expected that Joeckel will have to fight to even see the field going forward. Beachum is the presumed starter.

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But, as mentioned in the linked article, Joeckel doesn’t intent to go down without a fight.

Head coach Gus Bradley is big on competition and if Joeckel does prove he can battle back and outperform Beachum it wouldn’t be shocking to see him retain his job. The real question, though, is: can Luke Joeckel actually outperform Beachum?

At this point it doesn’t seem likely. The Jags would have to see something out of Joeckel that he simply hasn’t delivered in his first three seasons with the team. He’ll have to shift into a higher gear and really dominate in every opportunity.

It’s nice to think that Joeckel still has a shot – and stranger position battle outcomes have occurred – but there is no past evidence to suggest that he’ll come away the starter.

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