Tag: Anton Harrison

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:

Jaguars reveal jersey numbers for 2023 draft picks

The Jaguars announced Thursday what numbers their 2023 draft picks will wear in the NFL.

The Jacksonville Jaguars announced on Thursday the jersey numbers for the 13 players they picked in the 2023 NFL draft.

The team tweeted that first-round pick Anton Harrison, who wore No. 71 in college will switch to become No. 76 with the Jaguars.

Here are the jersey numbers for the Jaguars’ 2023 draftees:

  • OT Anton Harrison – No. 76
  • TE Brenton Strange – No. 85
  • RB Tank Bigsby – No. 4
  • LB Ventrell Miller – No. 51
  • DL Tyler Lacy – No. 93
  • OLB Yasir Abdullah – No. 56
  • S Antonio Johnson – No. 26
  • WR Parker Washington – No. 11
  • CB Christian Braswell – No. 36
  • CB Erick Hallett II – No. 40
  • OL Cooper Hodges – No. 75
  • DL Raymond Vohasek – No. 59
  • FB Derek Parish – No. 43

Among the most interesting choices is Miller wearing the No. 51 jersey, which has been unoccupied since Paul Posluszny left the team after the 2017 season. Washington will take over the No. 11 jersey that was previously owner by Marvin Jones Jr.

The undrafted additions to the roster will wear the following numbers:

  • DT Jayson Ademolia – No. 66
  • OLB D.J. Coleman – No. 54
  • WR Elijah Cooks – No. 84
  • CB Kaleb Hayes – No. 43
  • LB Dequan Jackson – No. 55
  • OL Samuel Jackson – No. 62
  • WR Jaray Jenkins – No. 87
  • CB Oliver Martin – No. 88
  • TE Leonard Taylor – No. 49
  • CB Divaad Wilson – No. 27

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Introducing the Jacksonville Jaguars’ 2023 NFL Draft class

Get to know the 13 players drafted by the Jaguars this year.

The 2023 NFL draft is in the books and the Jacksonville Jaguars added their biggest class ever.

With 13 players — 10 of which came on Day 3 — the Jaguars have a ton of rookies competing for spots on a mostly intact roster that won the AFC South in 2022.

While experts largely predicted that the Jaguars would target defensive backs and pass rushers early, the team instead spent its first three picks on offensive players.

Here’s the baker’s dozen of draftees and links to learn more about each of them:

Peter King: Raiders almost drafted Anton Harrison at No. 12 overall

The Jaguars weren’t the only ones who coveted Anton Harrison.

There’s been some debate surrounding the value of the Jacksonville Jaguars’ selection of offensive tackle Anton Harrison at No. 27 overall. While picking a Jawaan Taylor replacement made sense, some thought it was a little early for the former Oklahoma tackle to come off the board.

The Las Vegas Raiders were certainly not in that boat.

Peter King of NBC Sports spent Thursday night in the Raiders’ draft room. In a column published Monday morning, he said that Las Vegas caught wind that the Arizona Cardinals — who had traded down to 12th overall earlier in the evening — were interested in trading back up into the top 10.

The Raiders owned the seventh pick and were hoping to land Ohio State offensive tackle Paris Johnson Jr. or Texas Tech pass rusher Tyree Wilson. But a potential trade with Arizona opened up a third possibility: moving down and picking Harrison at No. 12 overall.

5:42 p.m.: Cards GM Monti Ossenfort called Ziegler. Hushed discussion, presumably exchanging potential offers for the pick. Then Ziegler and McDaniels huddled. Having the 12th and 33rd overall picks, to go along with the Raiders’ 38th choice, would be tempting. “We could get [Oklahoma tackle Anton] Harrison at 12,” McDaniels said. The Raiders loved Harrison—not as much as Johnson, but enough maybe to lose the fourth non-QB they love in order to pick up the 33rd pick. They mulled.

Alas, the Raiders never got the option. The Cardinals struck a deal with the Detroit Lions for the sixth overall selection and nabbed Johnson. A pick later, Las Vegas took Wilson at seventh overall.

The Raiders didn’t pick again until the second round, but King says the started mulling a trade back into the first round due in part to Harrison still being available. That fell apart once the Jaguars took the tackle with the No. 27 pick.

But there wasn’t much enthusiasm to deal after Banks and Harrison went off the board. Ziegler made a couple of calls about moving up to fill a hole left by the trade of tight end Darren Waller with Mayer, but never got far—or appeared enthusiastic to do it.

Las Vegas eventually moved up a few picks on Friday to secure Notre Dame tight end Michael Mayer.

It’s impossible to know if there were other teams that had a high opinion of Harrison, but were similarly out of position to make a move. But now there’s proof that at least one team thinks as highly about the tackle as the Jaguars do.

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