Jaguars OL Coach Weighs In on Right Tackle Battle and Swing Tackle Designation
Phil Rauscher is waiting for the cream to rise to the top in his first year as Jacksonville Jaguars offensive line coach -- especially at right tackle.
The former Washington Commanders interim offensive line coach and Minnesota Vikings coach offensive line coach is entering his first year with the Jaguars, taking his Bill Callahan-inspired teachings to Jacksonville to follow Doug Pederson.
It will be Rauscher who will help oversee the battle between Jawaan Taylor and Walker Little at right tackle, set to be the most important position battle on the roster when training camp opens on July 24.
"I think that you go to training camp for a reason, and I think that you have to give guys an opportunity and earn a job in this league," Rauscher said at the end of spring OTAs.
"And it would be dumb, frankly, for me as O-line coach to say, 'Okay, we've had whatever mental weeks of practice that weren't pads'. This is a contact, physical game."
Few battles on the roster will be as key in July and August as the battle between Taylor and Little. The Jaguars have emphasized the competition between the former second-rounders, with neither having a leg-up in public ahead of training camp.
"They know that they’re going to be in a battle, and it was us as coaches to make sure that we communicated that with them," Pederson said at the end of OTAs when the question of right tackle came up.
The Jaguars haven't had many questions in terms of starting right tackle for several years now. Jacksonville made an aggressive move to trade up for Jawaan Taylor in the 2019 NFL Draft, selecting the Florida offensive tackle with the No. 35 overall selection after trading the No. 38 and a fourth-round pick (No. 109) with the Raiders for No. 35, No. 140 and No. 235 overall.
Since then, Taylor has held down the right tackle position in a big way. He had to earn the starting job in training camp as a rookie but did so before Week 1; since then, he has started all 49 games at right tackle and has played 100% of the offensive snaps in each season.
Then there is Little, who displayed legitimate starter potential in three starts at left tackle in 2021. Little's strong play in relief of Cam Robinson against the Bills and then the Patriots and Colts in the last two games of the season was enough to inspire confidence in Little as a starter option entering this offseason, especially after he allowed just one pressure in his final two starts last season.
Little likely would have been a high first-round pick if not for circumstances outside of his control at Stanford. He sustained a season-ending injury in 2019 and then the COVID-19 pandemic derailed his final season at Stanford, leading to the Jaguars getting a potential steal at No. 45 overall.
But what happens at tackle after one of Little or Taylor establishes themself as the best option? Rauscher explained earlier this month.
"Who doesn't win that spot more than likely [is] going to be the swing tackle. But there's no reason that if the combination plays out, if such that one of them has to move inside, I think they can all do it," Rauscher said.
In short, expect for the loser of the Taylor/Little battle to end up as a backup and as the team's swing tackle. That is why the Jaguars practiced this spring with both Taylor and Little at left tackle at times, as well.
But that doesn't mean either wouldn't be able to win a different spot on the roster. Neither is a center while left tackle and right guard are locked up by Cam Robinson and Brandon Scherff, leaving left guard as a potential option.
"Like they, when we train, outside of the center position, they're cross-trained to do whatever they need to get done. There's not a lot of difference in the style of play in which we play, which is a little different than how other lines are set up," Rauscher said.
"Like if you look at kinda like how I learned how to coach. My first year in Washington, I think we played 70 different line combinations at some point just because of injury and a guy got hurt. Like, so, guys are going to have to play other spots. And the cool thing is, in the beginning, there wasn't that they were resistant to it, but they're kind of like, 'What the hell is this guy talking about? But like, then they start to see you okay, like, when we teach a reach block, it's the same at tackle as it is at guard? I mean, like, you're just moving inside, you got a different animal that you're blocking."
That leaves Taylor and Little with a chance to make an impact on the offensive line if they aren't the starting right tackle in Week 1. This doesn't mean the loser will just slide inside, but the Jaguars see training camp as the chance to get the best combination of five linemen on the field -- a combination that could consist of both Taylor and Little.
"But if you really like look at body types, I mean, there's different guys that are built differently and initially, can they get two-step explosiveness, I mean, that's all I care about. Can you get two-step explosiveness inside?" Rauscher said.
"And so the answer to that question is the guy who probably doesn't win the right tackle spot is probably gonna be the swing. But that doesn't mean that guy's not gonna have an opportunity. If he's one of the best five, then we got to find the best way to protect the quarterback at the end of the day."
