Tag: Luke Farrell

Trevor Lawrence discusses what TE group brings to Jags’ offense

Trevor Lawrence discussed the TE group this week and likes how well-rounded they are.

One of the most exciting parts of the Jacksonville Jaguars’ regular season is the anticipation of seeing how new coach Doug Pederson will improve the offense. He’s long been respected as a bright offensive mind in the NFL and he now has a player in Trevor Lawrence who many regarded as the best prospect to be drafted since Andrew Luck.

Pederson displayed how brilliant of an offensive mind he was with the Kansas City Chiefs as a coordinator, which led to him getting a job as a head coach in Philadelphia with the Eagles. While there, he was able to lead the team to a Super Bowl win during the 2017 season, and Jags fans are hoping he does the same for them.

When looking back at his tenure as a head coach, one key element of Pederson’s offenses was the utilization of the tight end position. That’s an area where the Jags have struggled in recent years, and the hope is that Pederson can improve the production there.

This spring, the team addressed the position by adding a former first-round pick in Evan Engram through free agency on a one-year deal. While he wasn’t able to put it all together with the New York Giants, he had developed a reputation as an athletic player at the position, which is something Lawrence has already picked up on after several practices.

Earlier this week, Lawrence talked about Engram with the media, as well as the rest of the tight end group, which consists of several players who bring different things to the offense.

“Evan [Engram]’s great,” Lawrence said when asked about the Jags free-agent addition. “He adds a lot of speed at tight end. Looking at our tight end room, you have some really good players. Some new guys obviously, but then you have Dan [Arnold] who can kind of do it all, Evan who’s really fast who’s going to add an explosive element to the offense, Chris Manhertz, just a really big guy that can help in the passing game, a great blocker, and then Luke [Farrell] who’s kind of a hybrid that can just plug and play wherever you need him, really good in the pass game, really technical with his hands in the blocking game, run game. We have a really good room, well-rounded and I think that’s going to help us a lot this year.”

While the pads have yet to go on, this is encouraging to hear about Engram, who could be the Jags’ top tight end in an offense that targets the position often. If he continues to make progress in the new system throughout the summer and in training camp especially, it’s possible he could be in line for another Pro Bowl season like he had as a rookie.

As for Arnold, he’s entering his second season with Lawrence as the Jags traded for him last September and acquired him from the Carolina Panthers. With almost a full season with Lawrence, both should have a great deal of chemistry this season, and fans should expect Pederson to take advantage of that.

Manhertz, who is the Jags’ oldest tight end, will also be entering his second season with Lawrence. And while he didn’t prove to be the receiver that Arnold was, he is the player the staff could be looking at as a TE3 where he will have to hold off 2021 rookie Luke Farrell, who is a good developmental tight end.

The Jags also have a group of athletic undrafted tight ends who could impress as organized team activities go on and training camp arrives. Those players are Gerrit Prince (a speedy receiving option), Naz Bohannon (a former collegiate basketball player), and Grayson Gunter. The preseason would be the time for them to gain ground on Manhertz or Farrell, but only time will tell if they can close the gap on the two veterans who got a great deal of experience in 2021.

Jaguars positional needs and 2021 review: Tight Ends

The Jags got some surprising production from Dan Arnold, but the tight end spot still needs some work.

The tight end position was one many expected the Jacksonville Jaguars to address in the offseason last year. Whether that meant targeting a free agent or taking a player in the first two days of the draft, it was clear the team needed to revamp the position.

Neither of those possibilities ultimately played out, though. The team didn’t do much to address the tight end spot until Week 4 of the regular season, when it dealt cornerback C.J. Henderson to the Carolina Panthers and got tight end Dan Arnold in return.

But that was the only major addition all of last season, and heading into 2022, it seems unlikely that the Jags make the same mistake at what is quickly evolving into one of the most important positions in the modern game.

Here’s how the tight ends looked in 2021 and the outlook at the spot moving forward.

Buckeyes in the NFL: Notable former Ohio State football players Week 17 offensive performances

Buckeyes in the NFL: Notable former Ohio State football players Week 17 offensive performances #GoBucks

The Ohio State Buckeyes just completed their 2021 season with a Rose Bowl victory over the Utah Utes. Despite the win being extremely close and the defense once again being less than stellar, there were a few positives. The biggest one is that the Ohio State passing attack looks to be electric and already ready for 2022.

With all that said, with the completion of the Ohio State season, we can move on to focus more on what former Buckeye stars and legend are doing in the NFL and this Sunday was a big one for a few studs. This list is so big we have split it into two with this one focusing on the offense.

Jags place 10 active roster players on Reserve/COVID-19 list

Jihad Ward, Andrew Norwell, Brandon Linder, and Malcom Brown are just some of the few notables who have been placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list recently for the Jags.

The NFL has been dealing with a league-wide COVID-19 outbreak over the last few weeks, but the Jacksonville Jaguars avoided it in the early part of Week 16. However, their Reserve/COVID-19 list started to garner names the closer the team got to their last game against the New York Jets with linebacker Myles Jack, receiver Laviska Shenault Jr., and guard Ben Bartch going on it alongside others.

Now, heading into Week 17’s game against the New England Patriots, the team has placed another wave of active roster players on the list, five of which were on both sides of the ball. They placed one practice squad player on the list, too.

That list of names are as follows:

 

Of the 10 active players that went on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, seven of them have made at least three starts this season. Those players are tight ends Chris Manhertz, Dan Arnold, and Luke Farrell, guard Andrew Norwell, center Brandon Linder, defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton, edge rusher K’Lavon Chaisson, and defensive lineman Malcom Brown.

The returns of the listed players could vary based on their vaccination status. Vaccinated players can return after two negative tests that are 24 hours apart. However, unvaccinated players have to miss at least 10 days.

So far, the only player who has been revealed as an unvaccinated player is Norwell, so it’s guaranteed that he won’t be back for the upcoming game in New England. However, if Bartch is cleared to come back from the Reserve/COVID-19 list, they could start him at right guard and put Will Richardson at left guard in Norwell’s place.

The tight end spot and defensive line will be the key positions to watch as they have multiple members from their respective groups that are listed. At tight end, the Jags are down to two players in Jacob Hollister and James O’Shaughnessy. But if needed, they could activate tight end, Matt Sokol, for this week from the practice squad.

As for the defensive line, the Jags have Doug Costin and Jeremiah Ledbetter on the practice squad to help if needed, too.

Jaguars inactives for Week 15 game vs. Texans

The Jags have named their six inactives for Week 15’s game, and it appears TE Jacob Hollister will be getting some play time after weeks of being a healthy scratch.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have released their list of inactive for Week 15’s game against Houston, and six players were on it. Those six players are as follows:

  • 21 CB Nevin Lawson
  • 24 RB Carlos Hyde
  • 76 OL Will Richardson Jr.
  • 89 TE Luke Farrell
  • 92 DE/OLB Jordan Smith
  • 97 DT Jay Tufele

Running back Carlos Hyde was the lone player to surface in the status column for the Jags on Friday’s injury report and was ruled out with a concussion. He missed all of the Jags practices this week while in the concussion protocol after sustaining a huge hit from linebacker Derick Roberson last Sunday against Tennessee in the second half.

Offensive lineman Will Richardson was a late addition to the injury report on Friday with a back injury. While he didn’t surface in the status column, it appears the Jags want to give him time to recover.

Another player worth noting that was listed above is rookie tight end Luke Farrell. He’s played in 12 games so far, but with a coaching change occurring this week, maybe new interim coach Darrell Bevell wants a more experienced option on the field in Jacob Hollister.

As for the Texans inactives, they are as follows:

Jaguars inactives for Week 12 game vs. Falcons

In addition to CB Shaq Griffin being on the inactives list (as expected), the Jags had a new name within the group in rookie TE Luke Farrell.

The Jacksonville Jaguars will be looking to garner their third victory of the 2021 season Sunday, and have a beatable Atlanta Falcons team coming to town to earn it against. However, they will have to do it without one of their defensive team captains in Shaquill Griffin, who Urban Meyer said would miss the game and officially showed up on the inactives list Sunday morning.

However, the veteran cornerback wasn’t the only notable to surface on the list as the Jags also listed tight end, Luke Farrell, among its group of six inactive players for the first time this season.

In addition to Griffin and Farrell, the full list is as follows:

Farrell, who was drafted by the Jags in the fifth round this April, is one of the team’s few rookies to play in every game to this point and even garnered two starts this season. However, with veteran tight end James O’Shaughnessy returning from injured reserve, it appears Farrell was the odd man out when it comes to his position.

As for the Falcons, running back Cordarrelle Patterson was cleared to play. However, linebacker Deion Jones will miss the game after being a late addition to the injury report this week.

Atlanta’s full injury report can be viewed here on the Falcons Wire.

Buckeyes in the NFL: Notable former Ohio State football players Week 4 NFL performances

How did these former #Buckeyes play on Sunday?

The Ohio State Buckeyes looked phenomenal on Saturday as they dismantled the Rutgers Scarlet Knights 52-13. As we take time to celebrate the Buckeyes arriving as an actual College Football Playoff threat once again, we also have the luxury of diving into the Sunday action with so many former OSU players in the NFL.

Week 4 is almost in the books, and as is tradition, at this point a number of former Buckeyes have made an impact at the next level. As we take a break from the college game and bask in the Ohio State victory, we wanted to provide you a breakdown of the former offensive pieces, with some notable defensive performances coming later.

WATCH: Trevor Lawrence drops dimes to his teammates in workout

Lawrence doesn’t appear to be very limited in these clips.

Trevor Lawrence is technically still recovering from shoulder surgery in the spring, but it sure doesn’t look like it. The Jaguars’ first-overall pick posted videos of him throwing routes on air to several of his teammates, receivers Tim Jones and Jalen Camp, as well as tight end Luke Farrell, at the football stadium for Bishop Kenny High School in downtown Jacksonville. All three are rookies, and the latter two were drafted with Lawrence.

There’s no denying that Lawrence looks really sharp here, and the featured throws are dimes. However, these clips should obviously be taken with a grain of salt considering the fact that there are no defenders in coverage or applying pressure to Lawrence.

Still, for a quarterback who’s still supposedly nursing his non-throwing shoulder back to health, he looks pretty comfortable slinging it around. Coach Urban Meyer hinted during minicamp that while Lawrence was limited, he would be able to play if it were Week 1.

These clips seem to demonstrate that, as Lawrence doesn’t appear to be limited at all from the surgery he had less than five months ago. The Jags will hope that means he’s ready to go for the opener against Houston, but there’s an entire training camp to go through before Lawrence can even win the job.

Luke Farrell makes it official with Jaguars

Former Ohio State tight end Luke Farrell has made it official, signing his rookie deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars on Thursday.

Former Ohio State tight end Luke Farrell has put the pen to paper in signing his rookie contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars. It was all made official according to a tweet sent out from the Jaguars official Twitter account on Thursday.

To be fair, it was a little surprising to see Farrell go as high as he did in the 2021 NFL draft. He was expected to be a very late-round prospect but was scooped up by the Jags in the fifth round as the No. 145 overall pick. Having his former coach at Ohio State, Urban Meyer, as the new head coach in JAX and influential on the selection process probably didn’t hurt.

No contract details were made readily available.

Congrats are in order for Farrell and we know he can’t wait to get to work. As always, we’ll continue to stay on top of all the former Ohio State players taken in the draft as they officially sign on the dotted line with their new teams.

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Jags make TE Luke Farrell their latest signee from 2021 draft class

The Jags now have three rookie draft picks under contract after signing Luke Farrell.

The Jacksonville Jaguars continued to make progress on getting their 2021 rookie class fully signed by getting yet another draft pick under contract Thursday. This time it was fifth-round tight end Luke Farrell, who is now the third 2021 draft pick to sign.

Farrell, 23, was selected 145th overall in the 2021 NFL Draft out of Ohio State. With him joining the Buckeyes in 2017, he was coached by current Jags coach Urban Meyer as a collegiate player for two seasons. By the end of his college career, Farrell ultimately  accumulated 34 receptions for 380 yards and touchdown in 44 games (32 starts). His career-high came in 2018 where he registered 20 receptions for 205 yards.

Farrell will now join a Jags tight end group that will be an interesting group to watch in camp. Leading the way as the most experienced player at the position will be James O’Shaughnessy. Behind him is free agent addition Chris Manhertz, but after that it gets interesting with Tyler Davis, Ben Ellefson, new signee Tim Tebow, and Farrell, all of whom could battle to be the Jags’ TE3.

Farrell joins edge rusher Jordan Smith and Jalen Camp as members from that Jags 2021 draft class to sign their contracts. They have yet to sign their first round picks (Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne), their second rounders (Tyson Campbell and Walker Little), third round pick Andre Cisco, or fourth rounder Jay Tufele.