In their process of filing the roster down to 53-players, the Jacksonville Jaguars will be cutting quarterbacks Mike Glennon and Joshua Dobbs. With both now being free-agents, that means the Jags are currently down to two quarterbacks. The first, of course, is starter Gardner Minshew II and the second is a surprise in rookie Jake Luton.
The #Jaguars are cutting both backup QBs Mike Glennon and Josh Dobbs, source said. A surprise. So it’s starter Gardner Minshew and backup Jake Luton from Oregon State… for now. One could return after the 53-man roster shakes out.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 5, 2020
It’s not exactly a surprise to see Luton make the team as offensive coordinator Jay Gruden praised him just a few weeks ago during training camp. In a nutshell, Gruden stated that the rookie was the biggest “pleasant surprised” of camp while pointing out some aspects of his game that the staff had taken note of.
“Yes, I think that’s been the biggest pleasant surprise, I would say is his ability to come in here and learn,” Gruden said when asked if Luton was ahead of expectations. “He plays with great poise and confidence for a young player. We put him in the number one huddle a couple times, and he has shown no sign of being intimidated. He fits right in there, like I said, he’s got great accuracy, he’s got great arm strength, so we’ve been very impressed with him.”
The Jags took the Oregon State signal-caller with the 189th overall pick of April’s draft as many scouts liked his size, accuracy, arm strength, and upside and it appears Gruden was able to tap into his potential. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to take the field for any preseason games due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the fact that the Jags are keeping him over two veterans (for now) says a lot.
With the Jags having only two signal-callers, they undoubtedly will add one to two more quarterbacks (one for practice squad and one for the final 53). It’s also not a given they would go back to Glennon or Dobbs, either, but could look at some others on the free-agent market instead.
A name to monitor is that of Alex McGough, who spent last preseason with the Jags, but was picked up by the Houston Texans after 2019’s series of final cuts. Many felt the Jags might have been aiming to place him on their practice squad, but the Texans came in and prevented fans from ever knowing.