The Jacksonville Jaguars have stayed busy after reducing their roster to 53 players before the headline. This isn’t surprising when you take into account that several players have been made available via the waiver wire. Also, the Jags needed to add up to 16 players to their practice squad. All things considered, they’ve come out of the process in solid shape.
You can keep track of all the moves Jacksonville has made here, the players they moved on from, the ones they acquired, and everything related to their roster. With that in mind, here are four things that stood out the last couple days.
4. A handful of hopefuls only spend one day on the Jaguars’ roster
You have probably heard that remaining at the top is harder than getting there. There’s some truth to that statement — both situations present their own set of unique challenges — and several players that made the Jaguars’ originally made the 53-roster found out in the worst possible way.
Undrafted rookie Josh Thompson and veteran offensive lineman Will Richardson Jr. made the team, and so did kickers James McCourt and Jake Verity. However, all of them were kicked to the curb just one day later, and while there’s a chance they could eventually return, it must be frustrating to get cut/waived just one day after being told that you got a roster spot.
Of course, this is all part of the business and NFL teams are going to do what’s in their best interest. Nevertheless, this doesn’t make it any less disappointing for those players that will need to look for another shot.
3. The Jaguars kicking carousel continues ahead of Week 1
In some cases, the third time is the charm but when it comes to getting the kicker position right, the Jaguars are already in their sixth try this year. Matthew Wright did a solid job for them last season but he didn’t figure to be part of their plans for the 2022 season. The Jags then signed Ryan Santoso and Andrew Mevis. Neither of them was the answer, so they also were given their walking papers.
The Jags next brought in James McCourt and Jake Verity and the two of them made the initial 53-man roster but both of them lasted just one day on the team (see observation No. 4). This could look like a curious decision at first but then you realize that they made a claim on former Detroit Lions kicker Riley Patterson, who is now a Jaguar.
Patterson was entangled with veteran Austin Seibert in a battle for the kicker job with the Lions. The former ended up seizing the job and the latter was waived. After going undrafted last year, Patterson signed with the Minnesota Vikings and later spend time with the New England Patriots before joining the Lions. The former Memphis Tiger appeared in seven games in 2021 and made 13 of his 14 field-goal attempts and all his 16 extra points.
The Jaguars were surely high on Patterson. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have claimed him off waivers nor moved on from either McCourt or Verity. Having said that, it’s hard to tell whether the carousel will finally stop or the team’s brass will keep tweaking the position.
2. EJ Perry was a better fit for the Jaguars practice squad than the roster
The NFL has undergone several changes over the last 20 years. One that doesn’t get plenty of attention is that clubs no longer feel the need to carry three quarterbacks into the regular season. They might have three or four for training camp but they will only have two on their active roster in Week 1.
As Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Focus noted, only 13 teams will carry three signal-callers into the season and the Jaguars aren’t one of them. Wilson cites talent or the dearth thereof as one of the reasons clubs no longer allocate a slot to a third quarterback. Why would you give a roster spot to a mediocre passer instead of a player that will actually contribute on game day? Jacksonville seems to believe so.
With Trevor Lawrence entrenched as the starter and C.J. Beathard getting the nod as the primary backup, it didn’t make sense to keep E.J. Perry on the active roster, especially when you take into account that he’s still a work in progress.
On the other hand, the Jaguars’ brass recognize Perry’s potential and couldn’t just simply let him go, so they stashed him in the practice squad. This makes sense when you consider that he can continue working on becoming a better passer there. Also, Beathard is slated to become a free agent in 2023, so Jacksonville needs to plan ahead in case they aren’t able or aren’t interested in bringing him back.
Keeping Perry in the practice squad gives the coaching staff enough time to assess him and see if he can be a potential replacement.
1. There wasn’t demand for Jaguars players on the waiver wire
The Jaguars had top priority in the waiver wire, and they were quick to call dibs on several players other teams waived. However, most of the players Jacksonville released didn’t get much attention, and only sophomore defensive tackle Jay Tufele was picked up by the Cincinnati Bengals.
There are several ways to look at this. On the one hand, the Jags are coming off a 3-14 season and the front office cleaned house in the offseason. Several players that logged a meaningful amount of snaps are no longer with the team. Wide receivers Laviska Shenault Jr. and Laquon Treadwell lead the way but they’re not the only ones. Gone is also linebacker Chapelle Russell, who made an important stop in Jacksonville’s Week 6 win over the Miami Dolphins.
On the other hand, this reflects well on the Jaguars and the roster they built over the last few months. Their wide receiver corps is stacked. The same is true for their linebacker group and their cornerback unit. Simply, they got better talent and they only had a finite number of roster spots and practice squad slots.
Tufele seemed like a good bet to make the roster after showing progress in the offseason. Furthermore, the Jaguars released veteran Malcom Brown, paving the way for Tufele. But he ended up getting waived because there are other players with a bigger upside, at least in the front office’s eyes.
In the end, Tufele found another team quickly while the Jaguars’ roster is in good shape after undergoing a makeover in the offseason, so this could turn out to be a win-win situation for both parties.