Five weeks have passed, and the Jaguars are sitting at 1-3. With four games down, it is time to review how the Jaguars’ offensive line has performed over the 1st quarter of the 2016 season. Over the past few years, the offensive line has been a weakness to say the least. Blake Bortles was sacked 106 times in his first two years in the league. Jacksonville’s running game has also been a disappointment as the offensive line has struggled to open many lanes. During the offseason, the Jags made a few changes to help strengthen the unit. They brought in Kelvin Beachum from the Steelers and signed a couple depth players in Patrick Omameh and Mackenzy Bernadeau. Brandon Linder and Luke Joeckel also made positional changes with Linder switching from right guard to center and Joeckel switching from left tackle to left guard. So how have the changes and additions helped the Jaguars’ O-line so far?
Jaguars Offensive Line Quarterly Review
Pass Blocking
Coming into week 5, Pro Football Focus ranked the Jaguars offensive line 14th in the league. For a team plagued with terrible O-line play, being in the middle of the pack is a promising start. Bortles has been sacked 12 times in 4 games which at first glance is alarming, but not every one of the 12 sacks are the offensive line’s fault. Blake has himself to blame for a couple of those sacks as he has a tendency to hold the ball far too long while waiting for a play to develop. The offensive line has done an admirable job of not allowing too many pressures over the course of the first four games. Outside of Joeckel, the Jaguars starters grade out well in pass blocking.
The good folks over at Big Cat Country have been keeping a tally of the sacks this year. 5.5 sacks have come from the left side with Luke at fault for 2 and Beachum at fault for 3.5. Kelvin for the most part has been good, but when he does lose it unfortunately has resulted in sacks rather than pressures. With Joeckel out for the rest of the season, it will be interesting to see how the next man up fares going forward. Brandon Linder has been terrific at center, grading out as the 7th best center on PFF through 5 weeks. A.J. Cann and Jermey Parnell have proven to be quite the pair on the right side as well with both only surrendering 1 sack each so far.
Run Blocking
While the offensive line has shown strides pass blocking, they still continue to find a hard time giving the running backs a hole to run through. Jacksonville has rushed for 301 yards over the first four games while averaging a paltry 3.5 yards per attempt. The running backs have only accumulated 212 yards on the ground while averaging 2.94 yards per carry. Bortles has run for 89 yards. 2.94 yards is abysmal and flat out unacceptable. T.J. Yeldon deserves some blame for his hesitant running style, but Chris Ivory who led the AFC in rushing last year only has 43 yards on 20 attempts.
The Jaguars’ highest graded run blocker is Joeckel, so missing him will hurt our rushing attack even more. Surprisingly, Cann and Parnell have graded out poorly for their run blocking. Linder has been solid in the middle, and Beachum has been a hair above average. The backs simply haven’t been given a legitimate chance to make an impact outside of the game against the Colts. Hopefully the Indianapolis game is more of an indicator of things to come rather than an outlier.
Taking the Next Step
All in all, the Jaguars’ offensive line has shown improvement in the passing game. Run blocking remains a concern that must be addressed going forward. Because of Jacksonville’s playmakers at wide receiver and tight end, running isn’t necessarily a priority. However, alleviating some of the pressure put on Bortles by having a nonexistent run game could take this team to the next level offensively. Blake has issues with decision making, so having a solid running game to rely upon can help to cut down on his potential turnovers. Jacksonville will only go as far as Bortles can take them, so protecting him is of the utmost importance. The O-line has accomplished that for the most part. Now they need to work on giving Yeldon and Ivory some room to make plays in the run game. The Jaguars don’t have to have a rushing attack like the Dallas Cowboys, but a solid running game would go a long way towards making this offensive as explosive as it can be.
