Jaguars 53-man roster projection: Final prediction before Tuesday cuts

What will the Jaguars’ 53-man roster look like after the roster is cut down before the Tuesday deadline?

The Jacksonville Jaguars wrapped up preseason with an undefeated record, but now have to make the tough decisions before the regular season begins.

The team has until 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday to cut its roster down from its current 90-man total down to 53 players.

For a suddenly deep roster with too many talented players and not enough spots, the Jaguars have some tight maneuvering to do before Week 1. Which players can they sneak through the waiver wire and get back on the practice squad? Which ones will get promptly scooped up by another team?

With those questions in mind, here’s our final guess at the 53-man roster on Tuesday afternoon:

Jags roster cuts: Tracking their path to 53-man roster

Tracking how the Jags’ 53-man roster is taking shape throughout today’s roster deadline date.

Today is the day that the Jacksonville Jaguars (and every NFL team) will name their final 53-man rosters for 2021 as the league’s mandated deadline is set for 4 p.m. EST. The team has also been busy on the trade market, letting both quarterback Gardner Minshew and cornerback Sidney Jones IV go within the last few days for sixth-round picks.

With the set of moves that are set to take place, we’ll be tracking them all as the Jags get to 53. We’ve listed each position to help fans track the players currently on the roster, those who’ve already departed, and those who will be let go throughout the day.

Here is a look at what the roster currently looks like.

Marrone says decision to release Fournette was about what he saw on practice field

After the news broke that the Jaguars waived Leonard Fournette, Doug Marrone explains the team could find “no value” for the running back.

Monday morning Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone faced the media less than an hour after the news broke that the team was releasing former first-round pick Leonard Fournette.

With questions coming in left and right about the timing of the situation, Marrone was candid and forthcoming with his response, stating that the decision was based on what was seen on the practice field. He also added that the Jags had exercised every option to trade Fournette.

“Well, I think what happened was I tried to challenge everyone, coaches and scouts, to look at what we’ve been doing in practice. Not knowing how the players are going to come back, not knowing who we had, not having a lot of experience to them and that we’d have to make good decisions on what’s best for the team. Let’s not go ahead and say ‘well, because this player did this before, we’ll get the same type of results’,” Marrone said.

“Really we’ve just tried to take the team and put the best team together from what we’ve seen in our practices. At the end of the day, I felt that was the best decision for our team and think it gives us the best opportunity with the skill sets that we have with the other players in there. I just felt that’s what’s best for the team. And doing it now, we’ve exhausted all trade opportunities and weren’t able to get anything there so I just felt we can now work on the team, the plan, and getting ready for the season.”

Marrone added that the meeting between the two was also very professional.

 

This news is a little surprising as Fournette is coming off his best year in the NFL with over 1,600 all-purpose yards. However, the lack of interest in the former Louisiana State Tiger has been well documented since as far back as April. Basically, it sounds as though general manager Dave Caldwell couldn’t get anyone to bite on Fournette after having discussions around the 2020 NFL Draft.

The Jaguars running back room now consists of Chris Thompson, Ryquell Armstead, Devine Ozigbo, and undrafted rookies Nathan Cottrell and James Robinson. With Thompson being the oldest of the group and having experience under Jay Gruden’s system already, it feels as though he’ll be the new leader of the room.

As for adding a running back before Week 1, that feels unlikely at the moment, but ultimately time will tell.