3 burning questions surrounding the Jaguars O-Line ahead of the 2023 season

No. 2 Will Jaguars LG be a full-go for the 2023 season opener?

The Jaguars failed to find a difference-maker with any of their three top picks (Nos. 9, 20, 42) in the 2020 NFL Draft. The silver lining is that they managed to take defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton in Round 3 and offensive guard Ben Bartch one round later.

While Hamilton just got a three-year deal worth $34.5 million, Bertch is entering the 2023 season with lots of uncertainty surrounding his future in Jacksonville. The former St. John Johnny was the team's starter at left guard in the 2022 opener but he dislocated his knee in Week 5 and was placed on the Injured Reserve list for the remainder of the year.

Doug Pederson told the media during the team's pre-draft meeting that Bartch's still recovering from the knee injury and isn't sure whether he'll be available for training camp. If he isn't, the team will go resort to veteran Tyler Shatley who's made 30 starters on the interior offensive line over the last three seasons.

A veteran like Shatley can come off the bench and step into a starting role at any time if needed but there's a steep dropoff from Bartch to him, and the left side of the offensive line could become a question mark if he needs to see the field for an extended period of time.

Although it's not time to press the panic button just yet, the team's brass must closely monitor Bartch's health, and if he isn't ready to go by the time the regular season starts, they might need to consider looking for outside help to shore up the left guard spot.