While the draft is a way for teams in the league to upgrade their roster, it also affects the future of some veterans in a negative way. After taking a look at six members of the Jacksonville Jaguars’ roster who were winners as a result of the draft, here are three players who the draft process hurt:
QB – Tanner Lee
With the addition of rookie selection Gardner Minshew, the Jags brought their total number at the quarterback position to five. Simply put, it’s hard to imagine the team will keep it that way for long and a cut could be made soon.
The most experienced quarterback behind Nick Foles is, of course, Cody Kessler and the No. 2 job is basically his to lose, which leaves Alex McGough, Lee and Minshew to battle for position behind him. With McGough just being signed this season and Minshew projected to get his opportunity to prove his worth in the preseason, Lee is probably the odd man out after spending a majority of 2018 on practice squad.
OT – Will Richardson
The Jags drafted Richardson in the fourth-round of last season’s draft to be Jermey Parnell’s successor, but he ended up on injured reserve which eliminated any opportunities he had to prove himself as a rookie. Once the team released Parnell prior to free agency this season, Richardson was basically penciled in at right tackle, with Cedric Ogbuehi as his biggest competition.
Now, second-round pick Jawaan Taylor is in the mix and one would think the right tackle job is his to lose, though he’ll have to earn it. Still, it looks as though Richardson’s opportunity to establish himself as the right tackle of the future was last season when Parnell missed three games. Unfortunately, injuries prevented him from his time to shine and now it might be an uphill battle to crack the starting lineup. Then again, maybe he’ll get a look at guard down the road as A.J. Cann hasn’t been overly impressive.
LB – Telvin Smith
First, I’ll start by saying I believe Smith will take the field with the Jaguars this year, but the selection of Quincy Williams probably affects his future with the team past 2019. As we’ve seen in the past with the selections of Taven Bryan (who is replacing Malik Jackson) and Ronnie Harrison (who replaced Barry Church), the team is at a point where they need to start replacing their expensive veterans with young talent for cap reasons. That same logic probably will apply for Smith, too.
Additionally, the Jags now have the pieces to run a 3-4 hybrid though it’s unclear if they will go that route. However, if they do, that would definitely spell trouble for Smith, who would see a decrease in play time due to solely being a fit for the 4-3.
