Tag: Anton Harrison

Offensive line hopes to anchor the 2023 Oklahoma Sooners

The offensive line is crucial to what every team wants to do offensively. Ever since Bill Bedenbaugh came to town it’s arguably been the strength of the Oklahoma Sooners.

Another day and another position group. This one is the position that doesn’t get enough credit, but it might be the most fun position to talk about.

The offensive line is crucial to what every team wants to do offensively. Ever since Bill Bedenbaugh came to town, it’s arguably been the strength of the Oklahoma Sooners.

But the Sooners will have their work cut out for them as they replace three starters from last year’s team. [autotag]Anton Harrison[/autotag], [autotag]Wanya Morris[/autotag] and [autotag]Chris Murray[/autotag] are gone.

They added transfer [autotag]Walter Rouse[/autotag] from the Stanford Cardinal to fill Harrison’s spot at left tackle. He comes in with a ton of experience and should help lessen the blow of losing Harrison.

[autotag]Tyler Guyton[/autotag] will slide into the right tackle spot replacing Morris. Guyton played a great deal at the position early in the season when Morris was out. They love his upside, and he has the potential to be a future first-round pick. He’s extremely athletic but needs to improve on his technique. He’s poised for a breakout season in 2023.

The replacement for Murray is a little trickier. Bedenbaugh doesn’t like to show his hand this early, but all signs point to Savion Byrd taking that role.

Byrd is a violent blocker. He’s reminiscent of how the 2018 line played: They just mauled you. Now, he has some technique work to do, but his performance against Florida State in the Cheez-It Bowl was fun to watch. If he can refine some of his technique, he could be special.

I know [autotag]McKade Mettauer[/autotag] started most of the games at left guard, but I think for this team to really have a dominant offensive line, someone like [autotag]Jake Taylor[/autotag] needs to take over.

You know exactly what you’ll get from Mettauer. He’s a steady piece with a lot of experience, but he doesn’t have the upside Taylor has. That guy can be similar to Byrd. He just plays mean.

The Sooners also bring back center [autotag]Andrew Raym[/autotag], who brings significant experience. He should be able to help solidify this line as it navigates the turnover experienced this offseason.

They also add transfers [autotag]Troy Everett[/autotag] from the Appalachian State Mountaineers and [autotag]Caleb Shaffer[/autotag] from the Miami (Oh.) RedHawks. Both of those guys will add depth to the line and should play a role on this team.

If you want to talk about some fun video, turn on Everett’s tape versus the Texas A&M Aggies. You’ll thank me later.

All in all, the Sooners have a lot of depth and have the potential to roll out the best offensive line in Norman since that elite 2018 line. Now, they still have to put things together, and players will have to progress the way a lot of people think they can, but the potential is there.

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Senior Bowl Director Jim Nagy believes in Bill Bedenbaugh and that OU’s offensive line has talent

Senior Bowl director Jim Nagy believes in Bill Bedenbaugh and three offensive linemen upfront for Oklahoma.

Bill Bedenbaugh’s resume speaks for itself. He’s one of if not the best evaluators and developers of offensive line talent in the country. He continues to prove it year in and year out.

Oklahoma’s offensive success for nearly a decade has come with Bedenbaugh leading the big guys up front. His offensive lines routinely dominate and regularly send guys to the NFL, where they shine.

Jim Nagy, director of the Reese’s Senior Bowl, has taken notice.

Nagy oversees one of football’s premier scouting events in Mobile, Alabama. The Senior Bowl is an effective evaluation tool for teams during the draft process. Every NFL team sends representatives to evaluate the players. Nagy puts it all together, and his recent comments about a few of Oklahoma’s current players should give Sooner fans a bit of excitement about this year’s possibilities.

In a lengthy tweet, Nagy talked about Tyler Guyton, a fast-rising prospect in many draft circles already because of his size and athleticism. Guyton stands 6 feet, 7 inches and more than 315 pounds. He went toe to toe with projected 2024 first-round edge Jared Verse in the Cheez-It Bowl and more than held his own. That game was a glimpse of what Guyton can do.

“Guyton, who played some H-back at TCU before transferring to OU, is as athletically gifted as any tackle in 2024 draft class,” Nagy said. “There was some ‘wow’ stuff on last year’s tape when he was filling in for Senior bowler Wanya Morris.”

Bill Bedenbaugh hopes Guyton can parlay that performance and experience into an entire season’s worth of elite tackle play blocking as Oklahoma moves forward without Wanya Morris and Anton Harrison.

With Guyton’s athletic profile and early buzz suggesting a good season could propel him up draft boards, we’ll have our eye on Guyton’s development. Guyton spent time training with All-Pro right tackle Lane Johnson earlier this offseason, picking the future Hall of Famer’s brain.

Speaking of All-Pro former Sooners along the offensive line, Creed Humphrey anchored the Sooners at center while Kyler Murray and Jalen Hurts put up video game numbers in Norman. His replacement, Andrew Raym, another native Oklahoman, has a wealth of talent.

“Center Andrew Raym, who is entering his third year as starter, looked like a draftable player on junior tape, especially in pass pro, despite playing thru shoulder injury,” Nagy wrote on Twitter.

Raym’s pass-blocking grade per PFF was 63.6, which isn’t horrible, but it should get better with Raym’s commitment to getting stronger. In 700 snaps during the 2022 season, he gave up nine QB hurries, three QB hits and two sacks. He sometimes struggled with his pass sets; positioning was a weakness we’re sure Bedenbaugh identified. It will be interesting to see how he adjusts this year. In 2021 he was a second-team All-Big 12 selection by the Associated Press, so the ability to be elite is there.

Opposite Guyton is Stanford transfer Walter Rouse. With his experience, he should hold down the left tackle position. Rouse replaces first-round pick Anton Harrison. To be quite honest, it may be impossible for him to replicate what his predecessor did. That’s OK because Anton Harrison was an exceptional talent. Rouse has to be himself. While he had a subpar year at Stanford in 2022, posting a paltry 54.4 pass-blocking grade per PFF, his larger body of work shows that Rouse was overall an excellent left tackle at Stanford.

2020 and 2021 saw him grade out pass-blocking-wise at 71.3 and 72.6, respectively. He had much better campaigns, which probably coincides with the fact that he was much healthier than last season. Rouse missed spring ball with a torn labrum, but he’s healthy and ready to roll for the summer.

Per Nagy, Rouse had a draftable grade and can use that as a great motivational tool to put together one final good season before he departs Oklahoma after the season.

“New transfer LT Walter Rouse started 39 games at Stanford but wasn’t able to do much this offseason after having shoulder surgery,” Nagy wrote. “Senior Bowl had late draftable grade on Rouse last season before he decided to return to school.”

Oklahoma’s offensive line will largely depend on how these gentlemen play. With all three possessing NFL-caliber talent, not many can maximize that ability, like Bill Bedenbaugh.

And if there’s any doubt about whether or not the Sooners can put together another great offensive line, Nagy’s not buying it.

“Senior Bowl has had six of Bill Bedenbaugh’s players in Mobile over (the) past five years, and there’s (a) good chance that pipeline from Norman will continue this year,” said Jim Nagy, Director of the Senior Bowl.

He has another project in front of him, replacing three starters from 2022. However, his track record speaks for itself. Oklahoma should be stout up front again. After all, Oklahoma is undoubtedly in the running with Wisconsin and Notre Dame for the title of OLU.

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Press Taylor: Jaguars’ logjam at OT is ‘great problem to have’

What will the Jaguars do with their starting lineup when Cam Robinson’s suspension ends? Press Taylor isn’t too worried about it.

It’s no mystery who will start at offensive tackle for the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 1. With Cam Robinson expected to serve a yet-to-be-announced suspension at the beginning of the season, Walker Little is set to start at left tackle while first-round rookie Anton Harrison will take over at right tackle.

What the team does when Robinson’s suspension ends is a dilemma with no clear solution, though.

“[It’s] a great problem to have,” Jaguars offensive coordinator Press Taylor said Tuesday morning in a press conference. “Depending on the timeframe they give us with Cam [regarding the length of his suspension], or however that falls, we’ll have a plan — a little bit firmer plan moving forward into that. Until then, we’re just preparing every single day for everybody to be the best at whatever we’re asking them to play that day.”

Robinson’s future with the franchise looks shaky, at best. The Jaguars can save $17.75 million in cap space by moving on from the offensive tackle during the 2024 offseason. They could even save $17.1 million this year by trading him before or during the 2023 season.

With Little and Harrison, two top 50 draft selections, on the roster for much less, moving on from Robinson at some point in the next year makes plenty of business sense. On the other hand, re-inserting a stalwart left tackle into the starting lineup after his suspension ends could make a lot of football sense.

It’s a situation the Jaguars will have to navigate not only when Robinson’s suspension ends, but through the remainder of the year and into the offseason. But as Taylor said, having three capable tackles juggling two starting roles is a much better problem than the alternatives.

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Anton Harrison: Jaguars offensive line is ‘like a family already’

Anton Harrison is having no trouble getting along with his new teammates.

Jacksonville Jaguars first-round pick Anton Harrison is expected to be an immediate starter at right tackle for the team. While that’s a lot to ask of the 21-year-old lineman, he says he’s having no problem gelling with his new teammates.

“It’s been smoother than I expected,” Harrison told 1010XL’s Mia O’Brien on Monday. “Having the veterans here helping me out — Brandon [Scherff], Cam [Robinson], Walker [Walker Little], all the guys, Josh Wells — all of them helping me out, taking me under their wing. Coming out here every day trying to get better day by day.

“Every time I have a question I go to them. We talk outside the facility. Easy brotherhood. I came in and they took me in and we’re like a family already.”

The Jaguars finished the 2022 season with a top 10 offense that led the way during the team’s run to an AFC South title. Jacksonville is hopeful that young players like Travon Walker and Devin Lloyd will lead to better defensive play in 2023, but the expectation is that the offense will once again make the Jaguars a contender.

That means there’s a lot of pressure on the offensive line to keep quarterback Trevor Lawrence upright. On Tuesday, Pro Football Focus ranked the Jaguars’ line as the 26th best in the NFL, largely because former starting right tackle Jawaan Taylor was replaced by a rookie.

Jacksonville needs Harrison to hit the ground running. Fortunately for the team, it sounds like the first-rounder is off to a good start.

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Projecting Oklahoma’s offensive depth chart before summer practice

Summer offensive depth chart projection for the 2023 Oklahoma Sooners.

Oklahoma has started summer preparation for the upcoming season. Currently, the players are getting in their strength and conditioning work. There have been no padded practices, and there will not be any for a while, but that will not stop us from trying to figure out what Oklahoma’s starting offense and defense will look like when the Sooners take the field on Sept. 2 against the Arkansas State Red Wolves.

Offensively, the Sooners starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel returned to help quarterback an offense that was 13th nationally in total offense last season. Much was made about Gabriel’s performance but a team finishing in the top 20 in total offense is probably doing many things right. Blaming the quarterback for a 6-7 season seems a bit excessive. In the one game Gabriel didn’t play, Oklahoma scored zero points in its biggest game of the season versus Texas.

Outside of that, Oklahoma underwent departures to the NFL by their starting right and left tackles, Wanya Morris and Anton Harrison, respectively. The latter was selected in the first round by the Jacksonville Jaguars. Marvin Mims went in the second round to the Denver Broncos. Starting running back Eric Gray was drafted in the fourth round by the New York Giants. Starting tight end Brayden Willis is a San Francisco 49er after being drafted in the seventh round.

Oklahoma will have holes to fill. We took our best shot at projecting an offensive depth chart while considering transfer portal acquisitions, recruiting, general roster maturation and turnover from last year’s team.

Jaguars rookie Anton Harrison leaning on veteran Brandon Scherff

Jaguars first-round pick Anton Harrison will begin his career next to a five-time Pro Bowler.

First-round draft pick Anton Harrison is expected to be the only rookie in the Jacksonville Jaguars’ starting lineup, as he’ll likely fill the void at right tackle left by Jawaan Taylor’s departure.

Fortunately for the Jaguars, Harrison couldn’t have a better player at his side as he begins his NFL career. The rookie tackle will be right next to five-time Pro Bowl guard Brandon Scherff, who is already helping Harrison get up to speed.

“It’s big,” Harrison said of Scherff’s impact, via a Jaguars.com podcast. “Especially coming in, wanting to prove myself early. So just leaning on a guy like that: an All-Pro, Pro Bowler, guy that I watched growing up. Being from D.C., he was with Washington at first, so just growing up watching him.

“Playing beside him right now is great, just to lean on him, ask him any questions. He always says ‘No question is a dumb question.’ So he’s always just helping me out with anything, trying to have me out there playing freely, playing my best.”

Scherff, 31, spent the first seven years of his career in Washington before joining the Jaguars in 2022 on a three-year, $49.5 million contract. In his first season with the team, Scherff earned team captain honors.

Helping a rookie get ready to be an immediate starter won’t be a new experience for Scherff. Just last year, he had a rookie on his other side in 2022 third-round pick Luke Fortner, who was the Jaguars’ full-time starter at center.

Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence was sacked 27 times during the 2022 season, 18th most in the NFL. However, he averaged 2.52 seconds to throw, third fastest in the league behind only Tom Brady and Joe Burrow.

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Giants GM promised to draft defensive player before trade with Jaguars

Trent Baalke made sure the Giants weren’t going to take Anton Harrison before trading with them.

Earlier this month, Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane said he had to answer several questions from the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Trent Baalke before he was finally able to acquire the No. 25 pick. Evidently, Baalke made New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen do the same thing.

In a behind-the-scenes video published Thursday by the Giants, Schoen is shown making phone calls to several teams about a trade. It isn’t until he has a conversation with Baalke that a deal finally gets done.

“Hey Trent, you still interested?” Schoen asks in the video. “You’ve got my word, it’s defense.”

Schoen says in the video that he’s concerned about the Buffalo Bills or Kansas City Chiefs jumping up to take the player he covets. After the deal with the Jaguars to shield off those competitors, Schoen kept his promise by selecting Maryland cornerback Deonte Banks with the No. 24 overall pick.

Baalke later made another deal with the Bills, but not before essentially confirming that the team wasn’t going to pick offensive tackle Anton Harrison.

After moving down twice and picking up three extra draft picks (used to select Tyler Lacy, Antonio Johnson, and Derek Parish), the Jaguars finally picked Harrison at No. 27 overall.

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Jaguars reportedly tried to trade for Bengals OT Jonah Williams

The Jaguars reportedly had their eye on Bengals OT Jonah Williams earlier this offseason.

The Jacksonville Jaguars had “real interest” in a trade to acquire offensive tackle Jonah Williams from the Cincinnati Bengals and the two teams had talks regarding a deal before the Bengals decided to keep the lineman, according to Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Williams reportedly requested a trade in March after the Bengals signed offensive tackle Orlando Brown Jr. in free agency.

The former first-round pick has played exclusively at left tackle during his career in Cincinnati, but is now expected to make the transition to right tackle following the addition of Brown.

These aren’t the first rumblings of discussions between the Bengals and Jaguars, as Pro Football Network’s Tony Pauline also reported in April that the two teams were talking. However, he said negotiations ended when Jacksonville picked Anton Harrison in the first round of the 2023 NFL draft.

Jaguars coach Doug Pederson said Harrison will begin his NFL career at right tackle, which presumably leaves Cam Robinson and Walker Little both at left tackle. Robinson is expected to be suspended at the beginning of the season for a performance-enhancing drug policy violation, but the length of that ban is still unknown.

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Jaguars sign Anton Harrison to finish deals for 2023 draft class

The Jaguars’ entire 2023 draft class is now under contract.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have their entire 2023 NFL draft class under contract after making the final two additions, Anton Harrison and Tyler Lacy, official Sunday morning.

The final contract announced was for Harrison, the team’s first-round pick.

Jacksonville got 10 from its 13-player draft class signed Friday and added second-round pick Brenton Strange on Saturday morning. Lacy’s contract was announced just a few minutes before Harrison’s.

Details of the contracts weren’t announced, but the NFL and NFL Players Association’s collective bargaining agreement largely dictates the terms of rookie deals. Harrison’s deal was a four-year deal projected to be worth about $13.2 million with a signing bonus around $6.6 million. The value of a fifth-year team option that’s attached to the contract of first rounders is impacted by play time and Pro Bowl appearances.

Harrison was the fourth offensive lineman ever drafted in the first round by Jacksonville, joining Tony Boselli, Eugene Monroe, and Luke Joeckel. Earlier this month, Jaguars coach Doug Pederson said that Harrison will begin his NFL career at right tackle.

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Jaguars 2023 draft: Projected contract for each Jacksonville pick

The contract for each player picked by the Jaguars in the 2023 NFL draft has largely been predetermined by the CBA.

The Jacksonville Jaguars reportedly reached an agreement on a four-year deal with sixth-round wide receiver Parker Washington on Thursday, but that still leaves another 12 draft picks to sign.

While that may sound like a costly endeavor, the total cost of the signings shouldn’t be much. The collective sum of the 2023 cap hits for the Jaguars’ picks will exceed 10 million, but the NFL only requires teams to fit their top 51 contracts under the salary cap (as fitting 90 under the cap in the offseason would be unrealistic).

With a rookie wage scale in place and the Jaguars not picking in the top 10 for the first time in a while, the total cost of a baker’s dozen of rookie contracts isn’t much.

Here are what the 13 draftees are likely to get when they finalize their deals with the Jaguars: