The Jacksonville Jaguars have been busy ahead of final cutdown day and they’re putting the finishing touches on their 53-roster before the deadline. They already traded wide receiver Laviska Shenault Jr. to the Carolina Panthers and have also parted ways with running back Ryquell Armstead and wide receiver Laquon Treadwell.
Once the Jaguars are done with their 53-man roster, they need to put together their practice squad. While they have several in-house candidates, they need to check the waiver wire and make a claim on a few players. Here are four they should consider scooping.
No. 4 candidate for Jaguars practice squad: Sony Michel, RB
The Jaguars’ running back group is pretty much set. Travis Etienne is 100 percent healthy after missing his rookie campaign with a Lisfranc injury. Similarly, James Robinson is expected to be back for the Week 1 matchup against the Washington Commanders while Snoop Conner is slated to be third on the depth chart.
Mekhi Sargent is a candidate to round out the Jaguars’ backfield. However, the team’s brass could look at outside options and consider bringing in Sony Michel, who spent the offseason with the Miami Dolphins but was part of the last round of cuts before the deadline.
A first-round pick by the New England Patriots in 2018, Michel was traded to the Los Angeles Rams before the start of the 2021 season and went on to rack up 208 carries with 845 yards with four touchdowns. He was given the boot in the offseason and promptly joined the Phins, where he was buried on the depth chart. In four games, the former Georgia Bulldog toted the rock nine times for a measly 13 yards.
Nevertheless, Michel has averaged 4.2 yards per carry throughout his career and should still have plenty of gas left in the tank, which makes him a prime candidate to join the Jags’ practice squad if no team signs him to their active roster.
No. 3 candidate for Jaguars practice squad: Bradlee Anae, DL
Defensive end Bradlee Anae surprisingly (or maybe not) slid to the fifth round of the 2020 draft after a productive collegiate career at Utah. The Hawai native appeared in 39 games for the Utes and logged 29.5 sacks, 131 total tackles, 40 tackles for a loss, and five forced fumbles.
Anae was waived by the Dallas Cowboys (the team that drafted him) last year and was later picked up by the New York Jets this past offseason. He went on to have a productive training camp and scored a touchdown after forcing a fumble against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 2 of the preseason. However, the Gang Green’s defensive front was stacked and Anae became a victim of the numbers game.
The Jaguars currently have a stout front seven and aren’t in need of significant additions ahead of the regular season. Travon Walker is off to a good start to his NFL career and Josh Allen is poised to bounce back in 2022. Similarly, the Jags are set at inside linebacker and their defensive front seems to be in good shape ahead of their Week 1 matchup against the Commanders.
On the other hand, the Jaguars should have ample room in their practice squad to kick the tires on a few developmental projects. Sure, Anae hasn’t done much of note over the last two seasons but he still has more than enough time to develop into a solid rotational pass-rush piece.
No. 2 candidate for Jaguars practice squad: Jack Coan, QB
Good NFL teams are always replenishing their quarterback room and spend a late-round pick in the position nearly every year. This writer believes the Jags should have used a seventh-round selection in this year’s draft on Notre Dame quarterback Jack Coan, who ended up signing as an undrafted free agent with the Indianapolis Colts and was released ahead of the 53-man roster deadline.
Coan didn’t do much of note during his stint in Indy and had an unimpressive preseason, completing 52.6 percent of his passes for 91 yards with one touchdown. Then again, he didn’t get many reps in training camp, so you could make the case that he wasn’t given a fair shot and could get better if presented with the opportunity.
Trevor Lawrence is entrenched as the starter in Jacksonville and C.J. Beathard is the top backup. The Jags will most likely carry two quarterbacks into the regular season, with E.J. Perry possibly becoming a candidate for the practice squad. But if general manager Trent Baalke is looking at outside options for any potential developmental projects, Coan would be an enticing one.
Coan made a combined18 starts and completed 68 percent of his passes for 3,242 yards with 23 touchdowns and eight interceptions at Wisconsin in 2018 and 2019. He then transferred to Notre Dame in 2021 and claimed the starting job. He went on to start 13 games and complete 65.5 percent of his passes for 3,150 yards with 25 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
Beathard is scheduled to become a free agent after the 2022 season, so it would be in the Jaguars’ best interest to start looking for potential replacements in case he leaves. Coan would have the chance to develop in the practice squad.
No. 1 candidate for the Jaguars practice squad: Greg Ward, WR
You won’t find the Jaguars’ wide receiver corps in the top ten of many power rankings but what they lack in elite talent, they make up for in depth. In fact, their abundance of talent at the position allowed the front office to release Laquon Treadwell and trade Laviska Shenault to the Panthers.
The Jags could add Treadwell to the practice squad, and the same is probably true for Jeff Cotton Jr. but if they’re looking for outside options, head coach Doug Pederson could pound the table for Greg Ward, who played for him as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Ward was in the Birds’ practice squad when they won the Super Bowl in 2017. He was waived before the start of the 2018 season. He then joined the San Antonio Commanders of the now extinct Alliance of American Football the following year and return to Philadelphia in time for the 2019 campaign. He went on to haul in a combined 81 receptions for 673 yards with seven touchdowns in the next two seasons.
However, the former Houston Cougar saw a considerable dip in production under head coach Nick Sirianni last season, tallying a paltry seven receptions for 81 yards with three touchdowns even though he suited up for all 17 games. To nobody’s surprise, he was waived Monday.
While Ward isn’t a top-echelon receiver, he’s familiarized with Pederson’s system and could join the Jags’ active roster and contribute right off the bat in case injuries strict the wide receiver corps. After all, NFL clubs can’t control injuries but they can totally prepare for them.