Tag: Roy Robertson-Harris

B/R proposes two preseason trades for Jaguars

B/R proposes two preseason trades for Jaguars

With the final coordinated roster construction window ahead of the 2024 season approaching in about one month, when teams trim their rosters from 90 players to 53, the NFL trade block could soon start to pile up with players on the bubble or buried on the depth chart.

Accordingly proposing trades for every NFL team before the campaign, Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine crafted two involving the Jaguars, with Jacksonville acquiring New Orleans cornerback Marshon Lattimore and sending defensive lineman Roy Robertson-Harris to the Los Angeles Rams.

Citing the well-documented perception that Jacksonville remains in need of cornerback help, Ballentine gave New Orleans the Jaguars’ 2025 third-round pick (from Minnesota) for Lattimore, referencing L’Jarius Sneed’s March trade from Kansas City to Tennessee for a third-rounder and a seventh-round pick swap.

The Jacksonville Jaguars are attempting to contend in an AFC that has a ton of firepower and elite quarterbacks. That requires an elite secondary that can contend with the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen and Joe Burrow.

Right now, the Jaguars have Tyson Campbell and Ronald Darby as starting outside corners with not a whole lot behind them. An injury to either of them would pose a serious issue for new defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen.

Nielsen made himself known as a defensive assistant with the New Orleans Saints. It might be time to get on the horn with his former team and see what it would take to bring in Marshon Lattimore …

The Jags would be on the hook for most of his 2024 cap hit and the remainder of his five-year, $97.6 million contract. That might be the cost of keeping up with the Joneses in an extremely competitive AFC right now.

Lattimore signed his massive contract extension with the Saints in 2021. It went into effect in 2022 and has been restructured three times.

The deal currently includes a $14.6 million cap hit for this season, a $31.4 million hit in 2025 and a $28.6 million hit in 2026.

A first-round pick by New Orleans in 2017, Lattimore has intercepted 15 passes, defended 86, forced five fumbles, and recorded 375 tackles including seven for loss in 90 games, all starts.

Lattimore has missed 17 games in the last two seasons, however, due to a sprained ankle in 2023 and a lacerated kidney the year before. And on Friday, he exited New Orleans’ training camp practice with a hip flexor injury.

As for Robertson-Harris, Ballentine doesn’t envision Jacksonville necessarily seeking this trade out.

Rather, he believes Los Angeles would benefit from adding a veteran defensive lineman after Aaron Donald’s retirement and that Robertson-Harris makes for a good candidate, especially considering Jacksonville’s revamped depth in the trenches.

Ballentine sent the Rams’ 2025 fifth-round pick to the Jaguars in exchange for Robertson-Harris in the mock trade.

There’s no replacing Aaron Donald. He will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and his one-of-a-kind ability to wreck a game can’t be duplicated. However, the Rams have a promising interior disruptor in Kobie Turner, and Braden Fiske profiles as a chore for offensive linemen with his explosiveness.

What the Rams don’t have is a veteran run-stuffer who is going to eat up blocks and force teams to run around him. That’s where a trade could help them as camp gets underway.

Roy Robertson-Harris has been a solid veteran for the Jaguars defensive line, but they acquired Arik Armstead and drafted Maason Smith this offseason. That could leave Robertson-Harris with a smaller role.

A trade would save the Jags $2.5 million against the 2024 cap and get them out of an $8.9 million cap hit for next season. Meanwhile, the Rams would get some much-needed interior depth.

Robertson-Harris signed a three-year, $23.4 million free agency contract with Jacksonville in 2021 and earned a three-year, $30 million extension from the club last offseason.

In three seasons and 48 games with the Jaguars, Robertson-Harris has accumulated 116 tackles including 14 for loss, 9.5 sacks and seven pass breakups.

Pederson: Jaguars veteran trio should be cleared for training camp

Pederson: Jaguars veteran trio should be cleared for training camp

Jacksonville wide receiver Gabe Davis and defensive linemen, Arik Armstead and Roy Robertson-Harris, should be cleared from injuries that have impacted their offseasons for Jaguars’ training camp in July, head coach Doug Pederson said Monday.

The trio of veterans have been limited or sidelined throughout Jacksonville’s voluntary offseason team activities (OTAs) this summer.

Pederson updated their statuses after confirming undrafted rookie wide receiver David White Jr.’s torn ACL, suffered last week.

“David is the only significant [injury]. The other guys should be cleared and ready to go for training camp,” Pederson said.

Davis, who signed with Jacksonville via free agency in March, continues to nurse a knee sprain suffered at the end of his fourth season with Buffalo, earlier this year. In front of reporters, Davis has been limited to individual drills during OTAs.

Over four seasons with the Bills, Davis caught 163 passes for 2,730 yards and 27 touchdowns.

Armstead and Robertson-Harris have each worked to the side of the field during OTAs, witnessed riding stationary bikes and observing their position groups throughout drills while recovering from injuries. Armstead played through a meniscus injury at the end of the 2023 season that continues to limit him; Robertson-Harris has been seen wearing a boot on his right foot.

Armstead, also a 2024 free agent signee with Jacksonville, spent the first nine seasons of his NFL career with San Francisco. He accumulated 302 tackles with 43 for loss, 33.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and six defended passes with the 49ers.

Robertson-Harris, a three-year Jaguar and seven-year pro, has tallied 191 tackles including 23 for loss, 17 sacks and 13 defended passes in his career.

Doug Pederson updates Jaguars’ injuries entering OTA Week 2

Doug Pederson updates Jaguars’ injuries entering OTA Week 2

The Jaguars are being cautious with several veteran players during their offseason team activities (OTAs), keeping a handful of contributors limited or on the sidelines during the voluntary workouts of the offseason’s third phase.

Of note, free agent wide receiver signee Gabe Davis continues to be limited by a knee injury suffered in January at the end of his stint with Buffalo. He missed the first two days of OTAs following the birth of his child, too.

Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson noted Tuesday that Davis has progressed over the last week but that he will remain out of team drills to prevent any setbacks.

“We’re gonna go slow with him. He worked in last week. He’s going to work in some more today,” Pederson said. “Just kind of keeping them out of the team stuff at this juncture. Just don’t want to get tangled up or something to happen out there.

“But a lot of the individual stuff, you know, he’s getting a lot of work with [quarterback] Trevor [Lawrence] right now, which is good.”

Before the team’s fourth OTA workout Tuesday, Pederson shared that new Jacksonville defensive lineman Arik Armstead and third-year Jaguars lineman Roy Robertson-Harris would be non-participants in drills with undisclosed hurts, instead working with rehabilitative staff to the side of the field.

Inside linebacker Foye Oluokun remained in an orange no-contact jersey while performing in positional drills. Per Pederson, Oluokun has been nursing a wrist injury this offseason.

“They’re working off to the side. Just don’t want any setbacks, it’s early,” Pederson said. These are veteran guys that know how to play, know how to work”

Running back Travis Etienne and left tackle Cam Robinson were absent from the workout, the former for undisclosed reasons and the latter due to travel following the birth of his child, according to Pederson.

Jacksonville Jaguars’ most underrated player: DL Roy Robertson-Harris

Jaguars veteran defensive lineman Roy Robertson-Harris is the kind of player who glues a line together.

An undrafted free agent out of UTEP who first signed with the Bears in 2018, Robertson-Harris is a bit of a tweener at 6-foot-5 and 290 pounds, and he’s never put up huge pressure numbers.

But in his last three seasons with the Jaguars after four years in Chicago, he has been more of a factor in both playing time and quarterback pressure. Moreover, he’s the kind of guy — and this is a relative intangible you need to see on tape — who glues a defensive line together with his ability to play everywhere from nose tackle to the edge.

Last season, Robertson-Harris compiled four sacks and a career-high 42 total pressures, and his combination of athleticism and awareness makes him an underrated force on Jacksonville’s defensive line. New defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen should have a lot of fun with Robertson-Harris’ skill set. 

Touchdown Wire: Who is the Jaguars’ most underrated player?

Touchdown Wire: Who is the Jaguars’ most underrated player?

How does one define an “underrated” NFL player?

“Sometimes, no matter how good they may be, they’re on the wrong end of the depth chart behind someone even better,” Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire wrote about such prospects on Friday. “They might be in systems in which coaches fail to recognize how their attributes are best deployed. Or, they may be part of a team where so many things are broken, nobody really pays attention to their efforts.”

Selecting one for each NFL team entering the 2024 campaign, Farrar zeroed in on defensive lineman Roy Robertson-Harris as Jacksonville’s “most underrated” player.

An undrafted free agent out of UTEP who first signed with the Bears in 2018, Robertson-Harris is a bit of a tweener at 6-foot-5 and 290 pounds, and he’s never put up huge pressure numbers. But in his last three seasons with the Jaguars after four years in Chicago, he has been more of a factor in both playing time and quarterback pressure. Moreover, he’s the kind of guy — and this is a relative intangible you need to see on tape — who glues a defensive line together with his ability to play everywhere from nose tackle to the edge.

Last season, Robertson-Harris compiled four sacks and a career-high 42 total pressures, and his combination of athleticism and awareness makes him an underrated force on Jacksonville’s defensive line. New defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen should have a lot of fun with Robertson-Harris’ skill set.

Over 48 appearances with the Jaguars, 47 of which he’s started, Robertson-Harris has recorded 116 total tackles including 14 for loss, 9.5 sacks and seven defended passes. He’s accumulated greater totals in each category over three seasons with Jacksonville than he did in four years with Chicago.

Robertson-Harris enters his third campaign with Jacksonville arguably in the first category of “underrated” players, caught up in the Jaguars’ deepened defensive line depth chart as the club’s defense switches schemes and welcomes new contributors.

Following Jacksonville’s free agency signing of former San Francisco defensive lineman Arik Armstead and 2024 NFL draft selection of former LSU lineman Maason Smith, Roberston-Harris is no longer viewed as a lock to start along the Jaguars’ defensive line.

Do you agree with Touchdown Wire’s take or is there a more deserving “most underrated” member of Jacksonville’s 2024 roster?  Let us know your thoughts via social media at JaguarsWire on Facebook and @TheJaguarsWire on X (formerly known as Twitter).

Bryce Young on Sunday’s big hit: ‘It was nothing serious’

Panthers QB Bryce Young continues to shake off Sunday’s big hit from Jaguars DE Roy Robertson-Harris.

Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young gave everyone a scare this past Sunday, when he took quite a bit of time to get up from a crushing sack.

Young, on the team’s opening possession in their Week 17 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, absorbed a big hit from defensive lineman Roy Robertson-Harris. He had remained down while trainers and teammates tended to him, a scene that left many to assume the worst.

But the rookie, in yet another show of toughness, didn’t even end up missing a single snap.

On Wednesday, Young was asked if he thought the hit was going to keep him out of the game.

“No, that wasn’t the case,” he replied. “Just took a hard hit, just an awkward hit that took a little bit longer to get up from. After that, was able to walk back to the sideline, went in the tent for a second, everything was all good. I just wanna do everything I could to get back. It was nothing serious, which definitely is a blessing.”

Speaking of blessings, it may be a miracle that Young has played in 16 of Carolina’s 17 contests. Heading into Week 18, he’s been sacked 59 times this season—the second-most in 2023 and the second-most for a rookie in NFL history.

That number is especially troubling given the outside concerns about his 5-foot-10, 200-pound frame. That talk, however, still doesn’t bother Young.

“For me, that was never something that was on my mind,” he later said of his size. “I’m not out there to prove anything wrong or to make a point. I’ve always been focused on tryna do the best that I can at my job, tryna help the team, try to focus on what I can control. That’s something that never really fell in that category. So, it wasn’t really something that was a big focus for me.”

Young was listed on today’s injury report due to his back, which can’t be feeling at 100 percent after a six-sack outing on New Year’s Eve. Nonetheless, he was a full participant in practice.

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Why the Jaguars’ defense, and the ‘other’ Josh Allen, deserve your attention

The 8-3 Jacksonville Jaguars are getting it done with a defense that may have escaped your attention. It’s time to take a closer look.

Quite under the radar, the Jacksonville Jaguars have assembled a 8-3 record, and they’re currently the AFC’s three-seed, behind the Baltimore Ravens and the Kansas City Chiefs. The prime mover for this improvement for a team that finished 9-8 last season, snuck into the playoffs, and lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional round, is a defense that currently ranks fifth in the NFL in DVOA — eighth against the pass, and first against the run.

And the prime mover in that defense is clearly EDGE Josh Allen — the Josh Allen who’s having the better season of the NFL’s two Josh Allen’s. The 2019 seventh-overall pick out of Kentucky has the league’s fifth-most pressures among edge-rushers, and his 13 sacks ranks third.

Against the Houston Texans last Sunday in a 24-21 win, that defense and Allen in particular made rookie phenom C.J. Stroud as uncomfortable in and out of the pocket as he’s been in his professional career. Per Pro Football Focus, Stroud was pressured on 28 of his 46 dropbacks, and that’s exactly what it looked like on tape.

“They really didn’t do too much,” Stroud said after the game of Jacksonville’s pressure looks. “They sent some pressure, but not as much as they did early on [in Week 3, when the Texans beat the Jaguars, 37-17]. They got us a couple of times in some weird fronts with some pressure looks. I’ve got to be better with throwing the ball high and things like that, but they really didn’t do much different. They’re a sound team. They’re up front. Josh Allen and [fellow EDGE Travon] Walker set the tone.”

Allen’s two sacks in this game showed how defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell and defensive line coach Brentson Buckner are dialing things up in subtle ways to affect and upset opposing quarterbacks.

The first sack came with 3:14 left in the first quarter. Linebackers Foyesade Oluokun and Devin Lloyd mugged left guard Juice Scruggs. This made it a six-man pressure look with Olokun dropping and Lloyd occupying left tackle Laremy Tunsil, while Allen came off the left edge unblocked — not a great idea. At the same time, safety Tre Herndon blitzed from the other side on a delay from slot depth.

Allen’s second sack came with 2:24 left in the fourth quarter. Here, Allen was to Tunsil’s outside shoulder, and defensive tackle Angelo Blackson was to Scruggs’ outside shoulder. Blackson occupied Scruggs, and then Allen just made a great play, slipping through Tunsil and Scruggs and chasing Stroud down. This is a defense that can get after your quarterback in multiple ways.

In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys go deep on this Jacksonville defense, the secret stars that make it work, and how this can set the Jaguars up for success as the season continues.

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You can watch this week’s “Xs and Os,” featuring all of Week 13’s biggest NFL matchups, right here:

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You can also listen and subscribe to the “Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…

…and on Apple Podcasts.

The Xs and Os with Greg Cosell: Previewing Week 13’s biggest NFL matchups

In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys go deep on Week 13’s biggest NFL matchup with tape and metrics.

It’s time for Week 13 of the 2023 NFL season, including three Thanksgiving games, and the league’s first Black Friday contest ever. Greg Cosell of NFL Films and ESPN’s NFL Matchup, and Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire and the USA Today Sports Media Group, are here to get you ready for the most important matchups:

Seattle Seahawks at Dallas Cowboys: Can Seattle fix its passing game, and deal with a version of Dak Prescott that might be the best we’ve seen?

Denver Broncos at Houston Texans: The underrated players who are at the heart of Denver’s drastic defensive improvement over the last five games.

San Francisco 49ers at Philadelphia Eagles: How both of these teams set up future plays with current plays, and a throw from Brock Purdy you have to see to believe. Also, Jason Kelce might be playing the best football of his Hall of Fame career.

Kansas City Chiefs at Green Bay Packers: This Super Bowl I “rematch” comes at a time when Packers quarterback Jordan Love is coming into his own as a franchise quarterback.

Cincinnati Bengals at Jacksonville Jaguars: We have not talked enough about the 9-3 Jaguars on both sides of the ball. We would like to apologize, and go deep on Jacksonville’s pressure packages, and how they get their receivers open with scheme.

You can watch this week’s “Xs and Os” right here:

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You can also listen and subscribe to the “Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…

…and on Apple Podcasts.

Jaguars PFF grades: Best and worst performances vs. Texans in Week 12

Who was the best player on the field Sunday in the Jaguars’ 24-21 win?

The Jacksonville Jaguars’ 24-21 win against the Houston Texans on Sunday was probably the most important and consequential of the team’s 2023 season so far.

By avenging their 20-point loss to Houston earlier in the year, the Jaguars took a strong command of the AFC South with six weeks of football left to play. And while many have made officiating the story of the game, the Jaguars simply made more plays than the Texans.

It’s no accident that Jacksonville finished with 445 yards of total offense, nearly 100 more than the Houston offense. The Texans recorded no sacks while the Jaguars brought down C.J. Stroud four times.

The analysts at Pro Football Focus graded every player’s performance in the critical Week 12 game. Here’s who PFF thought stood out most Sunday:

Tyson Campbell out, 2 Jaguars questionable vs. Texans

The Jaguars will once again be without their top cornerback this week.

The Jacksonville Jaguars will again be without Tyson Campbell when they play the Houston Texans in Week 12.

In the final injury report of the week, the Jaguars ruled out the cornerback and listed two players as questionable.

It’d be a surprise if wide receiver Zay Jones or defensive lineman Roy Robertson-Jones weren’t able to play Sunday. Both players were questionable, but played in Week 11 and neither suffered any setback.

The only other player on the injury report for the Jaguars was defensive lineman Jeremiah Ledbetter who missed a practice this week for personal reasons, but didn’t get an injury designation Friday.

For the Texans, three players will be out of action Sunday due to injury and another three are questionable.

Wide receiver Noah Brown leads the NFL in yards per reception at 20.9, but he’s played in just five games. He was also out of action when the Texans came to EverBank Stadium to play the Jaguars in Week 3.

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