Jacksonville Jaguars position battles: Branden Albert vs Cam Robinson
By Adam McCarty
On March 9th 2017 the Jacksonville Jaguars traded with the Miami Dolphins for veteran and former Pro Bowl offensive tackle Branden Albert. Assuming he would be the anchor heading into this year’s season, however on day two of the NFL Draft it appears that may not be the case.
The Jacksonville Jaguars looked to improve the offensive line this offseason. The move to get Branden Albert from the Miami Dolphins showed the team’s commitment to improving the unit. Drafting Cam Robinson for the same position presented some extra intrigue and will build into a position battle.
Complications With Branden Albert
The Jaguars traded for former Pro Bowl tackle Branden Albert who likely believed he was coming in as the starting left tackle. Albert had a fairly decent season in 2016 with 12 starts and only committing three penalties over the games he played in. The Miami Dolphins actually used Albert more as a mentor to their young and newly drafted tackle (played guard in 2016) Laremy Tunsil. It appeared that even with two years left on Albert’s contract, Miami was ready to give the younger tackle his chance going into the 2017 season. This all led to the trade of Jaguars’ tight end Julius Thomas in return of Albert.
With acquiring Albert the Jaguars have faced quite the challenge since making the trade in early March. Since his time as a Jaguar, Albert has been nothing more than a headache with his demands of a new contract and skipping out on team meetings in April. This has been seen as both despicable and necessary by the fan base when the news came out of his actions. It didn’t stop there either, as head coach Doug Marrone began discussing with the media these issues.
"I have not had any communication with him, which is a surprise, so I don’t know what his thoughts are going forward. I can’t comment on that."
This is quite an alarming situation considering word of mouth is Albert wants a new deal yet he hasn’t talked to his new head coach that had traded for him. In a matter of two months Albert has missed team meetings, skipped voluntary workouts, and requested a new contract all while not talking to the Jaguars’ management team. This all may have helped lead to Jacksonville’s pick on the second day of the draft.
2017 NFL Draft
When day two of the 2017 NFL Draft started, the Jacksonville Jaguars moved up from the 35th pick to the 34th pick in order to select offensive tackle Cam Robinson. Robinson is a big body that helped the University of Alabama’s offense for three seasons as the starting left tackle. Immediately the word of mouth appeared to assume that Robinson would station himself beside Albert as the left guard. Shortly following the pick that assumption quickly dissipated when general manager Dave Caldwell spoke on his role.
"They’ll compete. They’ll compete for the spot. … I think we’ll leave [Robinson] at tackle for the time being. Never say never, but he’s got the skillset to move inside if that’s what you’re asking."
Obviously, over time a player’s body will wear down quicker than a player that is ten years younger. In Robinson’s three-year tenure as Alabama’s blind side protector, he did not miss a single game. Those three seasons accumulated to 43 total games, and during those games he helped his team reach three straight national title games along with collecting a ring himself. Along with those accomplishments Robinson has played some of the best college defensive ends including the number one overall pick this year, Myles Garrett.