Doug Pederson, Trent Baalke, and Shad Khan were all excited to talk to their new draft pick when they made the call Thursday.
There were only a handful of draft picks left to be made Thursday night when Anton Harrison’s phone rang. On the other end were the Jacksonville Jaguars, ready to pick the offensive tackle with the No. 27 pick after trading down twice.
Harrison first spoke to director of player assessment Ryan Stamper who then handed the phone off to head coach Doug Pederson, general manager Trent Baalke, and team owner Shad Khan.
Harrison is the fourth offensive tackle ever drafted in the first round by the Jaguars, joining Tony Boselli, Eugene Monroe, and Luke Joeckel, who were all top 10 picks. All three tackles who started for the Jaguars in 2022 — Cam Robinson, Jawaan Taylor, and Walker Little — were second round selections.
Who is new Jaguars offensive lineman Anton Harrison?
The Jacksonville Jaguars decided to upgrade their offensive line on Thursday night by picking Anton Harrison with the No. 27 overall pick.
But you’d be forgiven if you didn’t know much about the Oklahoma offensive tackle. Few fans learn much about offensive linemen, even the consensus All-American ones.
Here are five things to know about the newest member of the Jaguars:
Trent Baalke says the Jaguars could’ve traded down a third time, but it was starting to feel too risky.
The Jacksonville Jaguars were confident enough in their available options to move down from No. 24 to No. 25 via a trade with the New York Giants. Then they did it again, sliding back to No. 27 after a deal with the Buffalo Bills.
According to Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke, the team could’ve made a third deal Thursday night. Instead, the team finally decided to make a pick and select offensive tackle Anton Harrison.
“[We] had opportunities to move back some more,” Baalke said Thursday night. “We felt at that point in time there was too much risk involved. We felt really good about the pick. Coach [Doug Pederson] and I looked at each other and said, ‘Let’s make the pick.'”
Last week, Baalke told reporters that the Jaguars had “two or three guys” in mind for their first-round pick. While he didn’t reveal who the other players were after picking Harrison, he certainly implied that he had more than one viable option with the No. 24 pick.
“We felt we would still get one of the three guys we were targeting,” Baalke said of his decision to trade down. “Had an opportunity to move back again. Definitely ended up with a player that was rated very high on our board, a lot of value.”
In the three selections that happened in front of the Jaguars after trading down, cornerback Deonte Banks, tight end Dalton Kincaid, and defensive tackle Mazi Smith came off the board.
Baalke also told reporters Thursday night that the Jaguars will “absolutely” consider packaging their newly added picks (fourth-, fifth-, and seventh-round selections) to move up in later rounds.
Oklahoma Sooners offensive tackle Anton Harrison was taken with the 27th pick in the first round by the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Anton Harrison was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars with the 27th pick in the first round of the 2023 NFL draft. He was drafted to help give Trevor Lawrence some protection, and they’ll get it with his size, athleticism, and technique at offensive tackle.
He was the fifth first-round pick over the last six seasons for the Sooners and the first Sooner taken by Jacksonville since the Jaguars selected Dede Westbrook in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL draft.
Harrison adds to a growing list of offensive linemen from Oklahoma selected in the first round, joining [autotag]Trent Williams[/autotag] and [autotag]Lane Johnson[/autotag]. Johnson was Oklahoma’s last first-round offensive lineman selected in the first round back in 2013.
Williams and Johnson are among the very best offensive tackles in the NFL. It’s been a strong couple of seasons for the Oklahoma Sooners’ offensive linemen at the NFL level. Creed Humphrey has become arguably the best center in the league, and Orlando Brown just got paid a handsome contract to move from Kansas City to Cincinnati to protect Joe Burrow.
Humphrey and Brown were both disciples of offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh, but neither was a first-round draft pick. That is where Harrison sets himself apart. He’s another notch in the cap for Bedenbaugh, who’s had 10 offensive linemen get drafted during his nine years in Norman.
Harrison is the first selection in the first round of the draft since 2020 when Ceedee Lamb and Kenneth Murray were taken by the Dallas Cowboys and the Los Angeles Chargers.
Harrison had a monster career at Oklahoma and was one of the best offensive tackles in the draft overall. In 2022, he had a career, allowing just one sack and helped pave the way for Eric Gray to put together a career year of his own. Harrison was named to the Big 12 first team by both the coaches and the Associated Press.
One of the biggest things that stands out for Harrison is the sheer amount of power that he can exert in tandem with his size and athleticism.
Oklahoma has become synonymous with fantastic offensive line play during Bedenbaugh’s time in Norman. Harrison was a huge part of Oklahoma’s offensive success over the last three seasons. His ability, work ethic, and leadership paved the way for the Sooners to continue to have offensive success after the change in systems in the 2022 offseason.
Now off to the NFL, Harrison will look to build upon what he did at the collegiate level. Given his athletic profile and his work ethic, we’re looking at the next highly regarded offensive lineman to come out of the University of Oklahoma.
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How did you react when the Jaguars picked Anton Harrison?
The Jacksonville Jaguars decided to make the protection of Trevor Lawrence their top priority in the 2023 NFL draft, picking offensive tackle Anton Harrison with the No. 27 overall selection.
The pick makes plenty of sense given the departure of Jawaan Taylor and the impending suspension of Cam Robinson. However, some believed that Harrison didn’t belong in the first round conversation.
Here’s a roundup of reactions and tweets about the Jaguars’ selection Thursday night:
Jaguars made a smart pick, IMO. Pass-rush and secondary are obvious needs, but simply too many questions along the OL after the Jawaan/Cam/Bartch situations.
Harrison is young, can play either tackle spot, and must have really impressed OL coach Phil Rasucher at his pro day.
Jaguars take Anton Harrison #27 Style of play, need…everything made sense for them. With Jawaan Taylor gone and Cam Robinson facing suspension, they'll need Harrison right off the bat. His pass protecting skills are up to NFL starting LT level.
We are likely to see a suspension for left tackle Cam Robinson – but think this pick still had some legs without that news. Smoothest pass pro guy on a team that has the next big thing at QB.
Honestly, OL coach Phil Rauscher might be the best position coach on the Jaguars, so letting him have a chance to mold his favorite isn't that bad of an idea
The Jaguars own the No. 56 overall selection in the second round and the No. 88 pick in round three. Following their two trades Thursday, Jacksonville now has nine Day 3 selections with three in the fourth round and three in the sixth round.
The Jacksonville Jaguars didn’t make the sexiest pick Thursday night, but they added beef up front and bolstered the group in charge of protecting Trevor Lawrence.
By adding Anton Harrison, the Jaguars got a player who was credited with allowing only one quarterback hit over his last two seasons with the Oklahoma Sooners.
Here’s a look at the player Jacksonville is adding up front:
Anton Harrison, Oklahoma (LT #71) -Looks the part -Lineman posture -Wins run blocking position/leverage w/ time to peek at RB -Strong outside hand leverage & torque -Smooth, balanced kick slides -Calculates angles well in pass pro -Plays on the in soles of his feet -Mirrorsā¦ pic.twitter.com/RL6ZEZnzPh
The Jaguars’ OT situation is kind of a disaster right now, so Oklahoma’s Anton Harrison makes all the sense in the world.
(AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
I liked Harrison’s tape a lot, and I’m not surprised that he went in the first round. I’m also not surprised that he went to the Jaguars, who lost Jawaan Taylor in free agency, and look to lose Cam Robinson to an NFL suspension. The Jags’ primary need at the end of last season was their secondary, and that still applies, but this is a nice fit for a line in obvious need of reliable, consistent protectors for Trevor Lawrence.
Wingspan: N/A Arm Length: 34ā ” (55th) Hand Size: 9Ā¼” (5th)
Bio: The son of Andre Harrison, who played on Ole Miss’ defensive line in the 1990s, Anton Harrison started his athletic life as a basketball player, and moved to football when he enrolled at Archbishop Carroll High in Washington D.C. The four-year letterman and four-star recruit chose the Sooners over Maryland, Michigan, Penn State, Ohio State, and Ole Miss. He put up 23 starts at left tackle and one at right tackle over the last two seasons for Oklahoma. In 2022, he allowed one sack, no quarterback hits, and eight quarterback hurries in 424 pass-blocking snaps.
Stat to Know: Harrison helped his running backs gain 3.8 yards per contact to his gap per attempt in 2022, tied with Florida’s Richard Gouraige for the best in the nation among draft-eligible tackles.
Strengths: With any offensive lineman, you want to see how they recover from those reps that start out in potentially disastrous fashion. Harrison has the overall technique soundness to recover from getting beaten, and he has a good sense of how to make the most of early-in-the-down blips. It’s not always pretty, but he gets the job done for the most part when he’s pushed back or countered.
When he’s on point with his technique, Harrison effectively deals with stunts and games — he’s aware and doesn’t get overwhelmed most of the time, and there’s generally a nice finishing kick to his play style, especially when it’s time to run the ball.
Harrison’s “peripheral ability” is also clear in the passing game, and he blocked very well on most of Oklahoma’s deep passing attempts last season.
Weaknesses: As technically precise as he can be most of the time, Harrison will just lose his bearings occasionally. He will overextend, he’s not always exact with his hands, and he’ll lose power and placement when he’s guessing and flailing.
Conclusion: It sounds strange to say, but when you think of an offensive tackle as “boring.” it’s really a compliment. You want consistency above all at the position, and most coaches would take that over amazing, piledriving plays alternated with plays in which you’re not quite sure what the player is doing. Yes, Harrison has blips where he’ll unwrap himself in ways you’d prefer he didn’t, but overall, he’s probably the most underrated tackle in this class. Consistency is a big part of that.
NFL Comparison: David Bakhtiari. The fourth-round pick of the Packers in the 2013 draft is one of my automatic comps for any smaller offensive lineman who can transcend that and make it look easy at the NFL level, and Harrison will come off the bus to his first minicamp with that capacity. If he can stay within himself and make the most of his estimable athletic traits, he could very well be the best pass-blocker in this class.
The Jacksonville Jaguars traded down twice Thursday night and drafted Oklahoma offensive tackle Anton Harrison with the No. 27 overall selection.
By moving down one spot in a swap with the New York Giants, the Jaguars added fifth- and seventh-round selections (Nos. 160 and 240 overall). The Jaguars then moved down two more spots in a deal with the Buffalo Bills and added a fourth-rounder (No. 130 overall).
While plenty of signs pointed toward the Jaguars picking a pass rusher or cornerback in the lead up to the draft, offensive tackle became an even more glaring need with news that Cam Robinson is expected to be suspended soon.
The addition of Harrison raises questions about Robinson’s future with the Jaguars, as the team can move on from the latter next offseason to save $17.75 million in cap space.
Harrison stands 6’4, 315 pounds with 34 1/8-inch arms and was a First Team All-Big 12 selection in his final season at Oklahoma.
Draft day is here, and the talk is over. Well, almost ā Bucs Wire has one last mock draft for you:
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ first draft after the end of the Tom Brady era will set the tone for the franchise in 2023. After making enough moves in free agency with limited cap space to stay afloat this season, the Bucs’ 2023 draft class will be a mission statement for how general manager Jason Licht and head coach Todd Bowles want to remake the roster.
The Bucs have few immediate needs outside of offensive tackle. Even there, the positional flexibility that All-Pro Tristan Wirfs can provide by playing either left or right tackle keeps Tampa’s options open.
With most of Tampa’s starting jobs filled, this draft will be about building depth, particularly on the defensive line and secondary, and developmental projects for the roster two to three years from now at the offensive skill positions.
Anton Harrison could be Washington’s left tackle of the future.
The 2023 NFL draft is only one day away, and we here at Commanders Wire will look to profile multiple 2023 prospects daily leading up to day one of the draft.
We will focus on prospects who could be available for Washington and who fit a position of need. Our prospect profiles will not be exclusive to projected first-round picks only but also players who will be selected on the second and third days of the NFL draft.
The Commanders are first on the clock at No. 16 overall.
Today, we profile Oklahoma offensive tackle Anton Harrison.
