The Jacksonville Jaguars traded for defensive tackle Ruke Orhorhoro less than a week before the NFL Draft. While Trevor Lawrence won't benefit directly from his arrival, he's glad to have him around because they were teammates back at Clemson.
Orhororo was a freshman in 2019, so he got to play two seasons with Lawrence before the Jags drafted him first overall in 2021. The two are back together, and No. 16 shared his thoughts about their reunion.
Trevor Lawrence is hyped up that the Jaguars traded for Ruke Orhorhoro
Trevor Lawrence met with the local media for the first day of the offseason program. He said that he's excited about being reunited with his former Clemson teammate.
"It was great. We were just talking in the locker room, catching up," Lawrence responded when asked about playing with Orhororo again. "I haven't talked to him in a long time. It was, obviously, we've both grown up a lot since then, so like seeing him now, it's kind of crazy."
Lawrence continued, "But I texted him the other day. We talked when he was getting drafted, and he mentioned he wanted to come down to Jacksonville, like, of course, go somewhere with some familiar faces, and we hadn't talked since then, so I texted him and said, 'Well, you're down here. Probably not how you would have imagined it, but we're back together.' So no, I'm excited. He's a great guy, excited to get him in the building, and a good addition for us. And yeah, it'll be fun."
Orhorhoro went to the Atlanta Falcons in Round 2 of the 2024 draft. Injuries hindered his development in his rookie campaign. However, he showed pass-rush potential in 2025, registering 3.5 sacks even though he was playing out of position.
In Jacksonville, Orhorhoro will get a chance to untap his potential. The fact that he'll once again be teammates with Lawrence could help, as he can quickly get him up to speed.
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The Jaguars are confident Ruke Orhorhoro can help the fix the pass rush
It's great to see Trevor Lawrence welcome Ruke Orhorhoro with arms wide open. Then again, he's the face of the franchise, so he's expected to do that for him and every single one of his teammates. That said, their connection dating back to Clemson could allow Orhorhoro to get acclimated quickly, something he'll need to do as soon as possible.
Although Orhorhoro is far from an All-Pro, he has a realistic chance to bolster the Jacksonville pass rush. His pass-rush win rate of 15.5 percent led all defensive tackles at the midpoint of 2025. The Jaguars would love to have that kind of production from one of their starting spots on the interior defensive line next season.
Of course, the Jaguars could add further reinforcements to the defensive trenches in the draft, but they most definitely think that Orhorhoro can be part of the solution.
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