As expected, Jacksonville Jaguars offensive coordinator John DeFilippo finally got a draft prospect acquisition at the tight end position to insert into his offense who hopefully can develop into a big-time weapon. That player’s name is Josh Oliver of San Jose State, who DeFilippo was all smiles about Friday night and had done a ton of research on as a former assistant at the university under their current head coach Brent Brennan.
After the selection was made, one of the first questions DeFilippo was asked by Jaguars.com was if Nick Foles’ love for tight ends played a role in the Jags drafting Oliver, and his reply, of course, was ‘yes.’
“[Foles’ love for the tight end position] was a huge [factor in Oliver’s selection]. Josh is a great athlete. He’s a big guy who can go up and make plays on the football. He’s lined up at a bunch of different spots and I know his college coach [Brennan] very well. I coached him at San Jose State and they love him there and are very happy he’s a Jaguar.”
At 6-foot-5, 249 pounds, Oliver will give Foles and DeFilippo a pass-catching target who saw a lot of passes thrown his way in 2018. In fact, it appears he was San Jose State’s most consistent weapon, accumulating 56 catches for 709 receiving yards and four touchdowns during his senior campaign.
When looking at the other tight ends who were available with the No. 69 overall pick like Dawson Knox and Foster Moreau, the Jags clearly targeted Oliver because of his recent production as a receiver over the other two. To me, that indicates the Jags feel they have their in-line blocker in Geoff Swaim and plan to utilize Oliver more so in the “Zach Ertz” role for the offense, but ultimately time will tell.
