PFF: Jaguars O-Line graded bottom third entering 2024

Pro Football Focus (PFF) recently released its 2024 NFL offensive line unit rankings. Not to bury the lede, but the numbers were unfavorable for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Here’s what writer Zoltán Buday had to say:

All five projected Jacksonville starting offensive linemen were selected in either the first or second rounds of their drafts, although only the two offensive tackles — Cam Robinson and Anton Harrison — were picked by the Jaguars. That talent did not necessarily show on the field last season, as Jacksonville often had to rely on quarterback Trevor Lawrence’s quick release. The Jaguars signed center Mitch Morse in free agency, hoping that he can bolster the interior offensive line.

As with all things PFF, most fans seem to generally hate anything the publication puts out unless it supports their personal bias. But, in this case, I do believe most Jaguar fans would likely agree with rating the offensive line in this range. The only offensive line units rated lower were the New Orleans Saints, Seattle Seahawks, Tennessee Titans, New York Giants, New England Patriots, Washington Commanders, Arizona Cardinals, Baltimore Ravens, and San Francisco 49ers.

Some might argue that the fact that the Jaguars unit is rated higher than the 49ers (which ended the season ranked 15th) and the now-depleted Ravens line (which lost three starters) is actually a tip of the cap from PFF. As a reminder, this is an improvement on their 2023 rating. Heading into the 2023 season, they ranked this unit as the 26th best offensive line, at the time stating the following:

Jacksonville’s line ranked ninth in PFF pass-blocking efficiency but was by far the worst-graded run-blocking unit in football.

Coming out of an injury-riddled 2023, the team was rated 28th by PFF. I would think that even grading the unit on a curve, most would have probably ranked their performance in this 23-28 range, with only one addition being made center Mitch Morse. It's hard to forget 2023, where the team put together multiple tough-to-watch performances in both the run and passing games.

Short Yardage

Issues up front became a pretty significant issue as the 2023 season progressed for the Jaguars, as an inability to convert on 3rd, 4th, and goal-to-go scenarios became an apparent deficiency.

Run Game

A pretty large part of this issue was the line's inability to block in the run game or in obvious run scenarios.

The most unfortunate issue with the team struggling to run inside is that this was one of the team’s biggest issues coming out of the 2022 season, so it’s not something that snuck up on them.

Run blocking is unlikely to ever be a true strength of this core, though it doesn’t have to be in order to be effective. If the team can simply become a middle-of-the-pack run-blocking unit just from guard to guard in 2024, Travis Etienne and the team overall could have a much more impactful season.

Pass Protection

The Jaguars were in the middle of the pack in time to sack, landing at around 17th in the league. However, they were bottom eighth in how often a pressure turned into a sack, which the data supports as a reflection on most of the pressure coming from the interior of the offensive line.

While the team’s time to sack was 17th, its “Time to Pressure” of 2.42 was 4th fastest in the league. Some of the issues up front can be attributed to the shuffling of the line due to injuries and suspensions. For example, the performance at the left tackle position improved once Cam Robinson returned to the lineup from his four-game suspension. However, that improvement was short-lived as he was later placed on IR for four weeks with a knee injury, returning in week 17. Zoltán previously had this to say about Robinson's impact.

Robinson returned from a suspension during the season and boosted the Jaguars' offensive line, especially in terms of pass protection. The Alabama product’s 78.8 pass-blocking grade marked a career-high and ranked 17th among offensive tackles in the league. Furthermore, he gave up pressure on just 4.6% of plays, also a career-best mark.

An injury-free (and suspension-free) season from Robinson would likely do wonders for the performance of the entire unit in the passing game.

Additions

Most importantly, the addition of Mitch Morse in replacement of center Luke Fortner could not be overstated in both the pass and run games. Per Thomas Valentine of PFF:

Morse ended his five-year stay with the Bills with a 64.5 grade, his best grade since 2020, and a top-five pass-blocking grade among centers.

But, sight unseen, and after a few down seasons, I fully understand why PFF wouldn’t project a huge jump into the top 20 for the entire unit. Any projection would be based on the hope of staying healthy, growth for Harrison, and consistency up front. The biggest question up front, outside of staying healthy throughout the year, is: what will the team get from an injury-free Ezra Cleveland in 2024? We have yet to see this version of him in teal.

What say you, Duval? Where would you rank the team’s offensive line unit before training camp? Has the unit done enough to make the jump in 2024?