Jaguars OTAs going off without a hitch, 3 takeaways

The Jacksonville Jaguars’ tight end room is a work in progress.

The Jaguars opted not to spend premium resources on their tight end room. Instead, of pursuing a big-name tight end like Jonnu Smith or Hunter Henry in free agency, they added Chris Manhertz. They draft Luke Farrell in the fifth round of this year’s selection meeting and more recently, they signed Tim Tebow, who is making the transition to tight end after entering the NFL as a quarterback.

Urban Meyer praised Manhertz in his most recent sitdown with the local media. He says that the team zeroed in on him early in free agency and believes he is one of the best three blocking tight ends in the league. The former Florida head coach also said that the Canisius product has the potential to be a functional receiver.

Meyer was asked what kind of role Tebow would have on the offense. He says that at this moment, the former quarterback is learning the position and trying to make the team at this moment. Tebow may or may not be part of the Jags’ 53-roster in Week 1 but it doesn’t make much sense for the coaching staff to start design a role for him if he ends up struggling. Hence, Meyer’s taking a cautionary approach.

The tight ends as a whole are doing fine. Meyer said that veteran James O’Shaughnessy and sophomore Ben Ellefson have improved a lot and the unit is trending upward. Surprisingly, the head coach didn’t mention 2020 sixth-round pick Tyler Davis. It’s uncertain how many teams the Jags want to carry this season but the 2020 sixth-round pick could be the odd man out. Based on Meyer’s comments, it looks like this Jacksonville team will role with their current group of tight ends.