3 huge Jacksonville Jaguars offseason needs at the midpoint of 2023
• But they also have a few roster holes they must address
• Here are their 3 biggest ones so far in 2023
No. 1 The Jaguars must make upgrades to the interior O-Line ASAP
The Jaguars didn't make any major changes to the offensive line in the offseason besides replacing Jawaan Taylor with Anton Harrison, the 27th overall pick in the 2023 draft. Looking back, they should've also made upgrades to the left guard and center positions, arguably the weakest links up front at the midpoint of the season.
The team's brass expected to have Ben Bartch back in the lineup for the opener. They did but the outcome wasn't the one they expected. Bartch, a fourth-round pick in the 2020 draft, became the starter at left guard last year but suffered a knee injury in Week 5 that cut his season short. He spent the offseason rehabbing his knee and returned in time for the start of the season. However, he wasn't 100 percent and struggled. By Week 3, Jacksonville had seen enough and benched him in favor of veteran Tyler Shatley.
While Shatley was better than Bartch, he wasn't a massive upgrade, so they moved offensive tackle Walker Little to left guard when Cam Robinson returned from a suspension he served to start the season. Little, though, suffered an MCL injury that forced him to miss three games. During his absence, Shatley returned to guard and the top brass traded for Ezra Cleveland, a 3+ season starter for the Minnesota Vikings.
Little returned to the lineup against the 49ers in Week 10 but had a rough outing. But that's not surprising given that left tackle is his natural position. Head coach Doug Pederson has made it clear Little is the guy moving forward, but if he struggles once again, they should strongly consider rolling with Cleveland and show he deserves to remain in Jacksonville — he's in the last year of his rookie deal — beyond this season.
For the time being, left guard remains an area of weakness for the Jaguars. The same is true for center, where Luke Fortner was supposed to make strides this year. A third-round pick in last year's selection meeting, the former Kentucky Wildcat was a Week 1 starter. He played every single offensive snap last year and his streak has carried over into the 2023 season. However, he's also had his fair share of bumps and bruises, and his improvement in Year 2 has been marginal.
Barring a much better performance in the second half of the season, the Jaguars must bring someone to compete with Fortner for the center job and pour resources into the left guard position.
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