It’s no mystery who will start at offensive tackle for the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 1. With Cam Robinson expected to serve a yet-to-be-announced suspension at the beginning of the season, Walker Little is set to start at left tackle while first-round rookie Anton Harrison will take over at right tackle.
What the team does when Robinson’s suspension ends is a dilemma with no clear solution, though.
“[It’s] a great problem to have,” Jaguars offensive coordinator Press Taylor said Tuesday morning in a press conference. “Depending on the timeframe they give us with Cam [regarding the length of his suspension], or however that falls, we’ll have a plan — a little bit firmer plan moving forward into that. Until then, we’re just preparing every single day for everybody to be the best at whatever we’re asking them to play that day.”
Robinson’s future with the franchise looks shaky, at best. The Jaguars can save $17.75 million in cap space by moving on from the offensive tackle during the 2024 offseason. They could even save $17.1 million this year by trading him before or during the 2023 season.
With Little and Harrison, two top 50 draft selections, on the roster for much less, moving on from Robinson at some point in the next year makes plenty of business sense. On the other hand, re-inserting a stalwart left tackle into the starting lineup after his suspension ends could make a lot of football sense.
It’s a situation the Jaguars will have to navigate not only when Robinson’s suspension ends, but through the remainder of the year and into the offseason. But as Taylor said, having three capable tackles juggling two starting roles is a much better problem than the alternatives.
