The Jacksonville Jaguars did a good job of raising the roster ceiling in the offseason and will probably have several returning players compete for their jobs in training camp. Ryan "Hacker" Green of 1010 XL thinks this isn't great news for left tackle Walker Little.
Green strongly believes that Little isn't guaranteed his starting job and may need to fend off free-agent acquisition Fred Johnson in the offseason.
"We had Pete Prisco on from CBS Sports dot com, and now that's two weeks in a row. He did it last week and he did it again today, where Prisco said that he believes that Fred Johnson, the former Gator, new Jaguar, offensive tackle, he believed Fred Johnson would be the starting left tackle for the Jaguars on opening day," Green said. "That'd be interesting. Yeah, we talked about this last night, how James Gladstone and Liam Cohen probably don't have any loyalty to any of the guys that were here before them, within reason."
Hacker continued, " I mean, obviously Trevor Lawrence, BTJ, Hines-Allen, Travon, a few others, you get that. But everybody else, they didn't bring any of these guys in. They didn't draft them. They certainly didn't sign them to three-year contract extensions. Trent Baalke did all that to Walker Little. So maybe we shouldn't assume that Walker Little is going to be the left tackle. Keep in mind, this new Jaguar regime has brought in four pro free agents, and they drafted two on the offensive line as well."
"That's six new offensive linemen, either in free agency or with draft compensation they've brought in here. They brought in their guys. The offensive line coach is new, the coordinators are new, the head coach is new, the general manager is new. They hated the O-line, but that's not to say Anton Harrison can't play. That's not to say potentially Ezra Cleveland and maybe Walker Little can't play. But there is no doubt that, of all the positions for the Jacksonville Jaguars, the most overhauled, and it's not even close, is the offensive line."
Hacker goes on to say that he won't be shocked with whatever combination the Jags have up fron on opening day, pointing out that Johnson might challenge Little for the starting job at left tackle.
Johnson signed with the Jags in free agency after stepping in at left tackle during the Philadelphia Eagles' Super Bowl run last year. An undrafted free agent in 2019, he spent his first three NFL seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals and bolted for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2022.
For the sake of transparency, this isn't the first time that the idea that Little will have to compete for this job has been brought up.
Making Walker Little compete for his job is a smart move by the Jaguars
As Hacker points out, the new regime inherited Walker Little, and it's hard to tell if they would've re-signed him if he hadn't gotten an extension last year. If they brought in Fred Johnson to push him, it makes sense, but it's worth noting that Little wasn't necessarily a slouch.
A second-round pick in 2021, Little flashed whenever he was thrust into action, but it wasn't until the Jags traded Cam Robinson at the deadline last season that he became the starter full-time. Surprisingly, the Texas native got a contract extension late in the season despite the fact that he had only started 17 games in his first three seasons. Then again, he's only given eight career sacks.
On top of that, this will be the first time he enters the offseason as a starter, which could give him the necessary edge to fend off Johnson, who's been mostly a reserve throughout his NFL career.
Could Johnson challenge Little for the starting job? You bet, but he won't give it up without a fight, and based on a limited sample, he should be able to come out on top.