Jacksonville Jaguars: Is it time for DT Taven Bryan to go?

There are several Jacksonville Jaguars players that will need to shine in the next two preseason games if they want to make the 53-man roster on August the 31st. Defensive tackle Taven Bryan is one of those players.

Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report drew up a list of one player that every NFL team should cut and not surprisingly, Bryan popped up. Knox points out that the former first-round pick has not had the impact the Jags expected when they made him the 29th overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. He also notes that his lack of snaps over the last three years is worrisome.

"He has appeared in every game since being drafted but has logged a mere 71 tackles and 3.5 sacks. Those aren’t awful numbers but not what a team expects from a first-round pick. More alarmingly, Bryan has only made 17 starts and has never played 50 percent of the defensive snaps in a season."

Knox later mentions that Bryan’s stock took a hit after missing a good portion of Jaguars’ training camp. He believes that head coach Urban Meyer and the coaching staff won’t have much time to evaluate him before the final cuts. Finally, Knox notes that Jacksonville can free up $1.2 million in cap space if they release the defensive tackle.

Taven Bryan hasn’t had the impact the Jacksonville Jaguars expected.

The Jaguars surely thought they were getting a difference-maker in Bryan. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have drafted him (duh). Nevertheless, he’s failed to live up to his potential. It looks like Jacksonville is ready to move on from him, as the team’s brass traded for Malcom Brown this offseason and drafted Jay Tufele in Round 4 of this year’s selection meeting.

Moreover, Doug Costin and DaVon Hamilton moved ahead of Bryan on the depth chart last season, and the only reason he still got playing time was that both Costin and Hamilton missed time with injuries. Even if the Jags hadn’t acquired Tufele and Brown, he would still find himself on the roster bubble. The Jaguars chose not to exercise the fifth-year option on Bryan’s rookie contract, signaling that time is running out for him.

The Jacksonville Jaguars should be close to making a decision on Bryan.

If someone needed to stand out in training camp was Bryan. However, he got into an off-field accident through no fault of his own and was later placed on the COVID-19/Reserve list. The Jaguars activated him on August the 15th and he has since partaken in practice. Nevertheless, he won’t have much time to make an impression on the coaching staff.

The Jags need to cut down their roster from 85 players to 80 on the day after their Week 2 preseason matchup. The team may want to see how the defensive tackle performs in the next two games, so he still has a chance to survive the next round of cuts.

Bryan has always had the physical attributes to thrive in the NFL but he hasn’t been able to get it together. The clock is ticking for him to shine. If he doesn’t, it will then be time for the Jacksonville Jaguars to release him.