Jacksonville Jaguars: 5 players that must step up in 2021

The Jacksonville Jaguars need more from Jawaan Taylor.

Although the Jaguars had a few bright individual performances, they struggled as a team and their offensive line was one of their weakest position groups, allowing 44 sacks and having a hard time opening holes in the running game. Injuries struck the unit and most starters missed time with injury. On the other side of the coin, right tackle Jawaan Taylor didn’t miss a snap on offense but still failed to play at a high level and it wasn’t because of a lack of talent.

Taylor, a 2019 second-round pick, showed promise as a rookie and was expected to take the next step in 2020. However, he regressed and gave up 58 pressures after allowing just 44 the season before, per Pro Football Focus. He gave up eight sacks, one less than in 2019, but that’s still too much. Also, his overall grade went from a serviceable 63.7 to a less-than-stellar 56.5.

Taylor was placed on the COVID-19 list last offseason and that may have had a negative effect on his performance down the road. It will now be up to the Florida product to show that last year was an outlier and that he will pick up where he left off after the 2019 campaign.

The fact offensive line George Warhop is back should help. Also, there’s a chance the Jaguars take an offensive tackle prospect early in the draft and have him compete with Taylor for the starting right tackle job. Maybe that’s what he needs, a wake-up call.