Jaguars Stock Report Entering Week 2 of the Preseason: Tavon Austin Continues to Rise
In less than a month, the Jacksonville Jaguars will be suiting up to take the field against the Houston Texans in the official start of the 2021 season.
Until then, though, the Jaguars have a lot to sort out following a 23-13 preseason loss to the Cleveland Browns. The Jaguars had a sloppy game on both sides of the ball and the first-team units failed to build much momentum, but that is what the preseason is for.
With this in mind, there are numerous players whose stocks are rising following the first week of the preseason. Using both Saturday's performance and recent trends we have noticed at Jaguars' training camp practices, we have picked out a group of players whose arrows appear to point up instead of down or even remaining stagnant.
So, which Jaguars are on the rise? We review below.
Stock trending up
WR Tavon Austin
Laquon Treadwell was all of the talk of the first few weeks of Jaguars' training camp, but Tavon Austin has quickly caught up to his fellow first-rounder in terms of impressions made. It will be tough for either to make the roster considering how packed the Jaguars are at receiver, but Austin has done nothing but impress since he signed with the Jaguars a few weeks ago.
The former St. Louis Rams and Dallas Cowboys has caught five touchdowns in just a handful of practices with the Jaguars, and he made a terrific touchdown grab in Saturday's 23-13 preseason loss to the Cleveland Browns. He ended the game with four catches on four targets for 52 yards, making him one of the Jaguars' most productive players in the preseason opener.
QB C.J. Beathard
Could C.J. Beathard push for the Jaguars' No. 2 quarterback job? That seemed impossible following an uneven OTAs and a start to training camp that saw Gardner Minshew trade reps as the No. 1 with Trevor Lawrence. But Beathard has put together several strong days of practice leading the second- and third-team offenses, and he played better than any other quarterback on the roster on Saturday. Against the Browns, Beathard completed 13-of-16 passes for 102 yards and a touchdown. He didn't complete a pass over 13 yards, but he helped the offense pick up the pace and consistently convert first downs. Meyer said on Monday that Beathard "played fantastic" against the Browns, which is higher praise than he gave any of the other passers for their performance.
RB James Robinson
If there was any previous doubt that James Robinson was the early candidate to be the Jaguars' No. 1 running back entering the 2021 season, that doubt should be mostly put away by now. Robinson was on the field for eight of Lawrence's 15 snaps, including the entire first drive. He had a strong game in pass protection and saw more work on the ground (three carries in just eight snaps) than both Carlos Hyde and Travis Etienne saw. Robinson got the first snaps for the Jaguars and the most significant snaps with the first-team offense, showing the importance and value he holds for Jacksonville's starting offense.
LT Cam Robinson
While the Jaguars' offensive line caught some flak from the fan base after Jacksonville allowed three sacks in the first three drives (including one on the first offensive play of the game), Robinson is one player who the tape says shouldn't get much criticism thrown his way. Robinson allowed one pressure in 13 snaps in pass protection according to PFF, finishing with the best pass-blocking performance of any of the Jaguars' top three offensive tackles. Considering Walker Little wasn't a lights-out performer in his rookie debut according to Urban Myer, Saturday likely saw Robinson's hold on the starting left tackle job strengthen even more.
WR DJ Chark & WR Phillip Dorsett
If there was one thing that stood out about the Jaguars' starting offense on Saturday, it was that it seemed a bit, well, slow. It lacked juice and explosiveness, and Meyer had the same assessment after the game. The biggest reason for that was due to the absences of both DJ Chark and Phillip Dorsett, the two fastest and most explosive receivers on the Jaguars' depth chart outside of Jamal Agnew. While Marvin Jones is a terrific possession receiver and Laviska Shenault and Collin Johnson have good speed for their size, it was clear the Jaguars missed their field-stretchers against the Browns, with the Jaguars completing zero deep throws down the sideline. If anything, Saturday proved how important Chark and Dorsett could be to an otherwise less explosive offensive depth chart.
NT DaVon Hamilton
Yes, the Browns didn't have their starting offensive line on the field on Saturday. But even in that context, it is hard to not be impressed by DaVon Hamilton. He started the game as Jacksonville's true nose tackle in Joe Cullen's 3-4 scheme, consistently resetting the line of scrimmage and holding the point of attack as the Jaguars swarmed to the football against the run. The Jaguars were dominant against the run on Saturday and Hamilton's strong play next to Malcom Brown was a big reason why. People inside the Jaguars' building are extremely high on Hamilton, who has had one of the best camps of any Jaguars' defender and who carried it over to the preseason.
"DaVon has the capabilities of being the best nose tackle in the whole NFL. We tell him that. Everybody tells him that," Josh Allen said on Saturday. "I truly believe in -- like I said, everybody truly believes that he can be the best nose tackle, and I think he is. But as long as he believes that, as long as he goes out there and does his job, he's going to be the best."
LB Shaquille Quarterman
No player has so far benefitted more from the Jaguars' trade of Joe Schobert. Trading Schobert was a move the Jaguars made due to the value of special teams in backup linebackers and due to Quarterman's fit in Cullen's defense. Quarterman is a thumping downhill linebacker who is an excellent tackler, which showed up against the Browns as he was one of the team's few linebackers to not miss a tackle. Improved coverage skills have shown up in training camp in recent practices too, which should make the Jaguars more comfortable about him seeing major snaps moving forward.
"And then we drafted Shaq a year ago and there wasn’t much tape to evaluate him other than college, he didn’t play much. But the thing that we saw from him and the thing that we some from those young linebackers is speed, downhill thump in terms of knocking the run out," Cullen said on Monday. "So, I think when you saw 50 the other night, [Shaquille Quarterman], he was flying around hitting people.”
CB CJ Henderson
Arguably the best player on the field for the Jaguars on Saturday was CJ Henderson. The former No. 9 overall pick allowed two catches for 15 yards on four targets, recording two pass breakups in the process. Henderson missed one tackle but otherwise showed off natural man coverage ability both from the perimeter and from the slot. He has put together numerous strong practices in a row at training camp as well, leading to him seeing more and more reps with the first-team defense in camp. If his trajectory remains moving forward, he has a chance to start in Week 1 against the Houston Texans.
"CJ came out, he had a couple really good plays on the ball. I think there were two plays we could’ve picked off and he hit one of them down there in the red zone," Cullen said on Tuesday.
"And then they ran a go-route, we had great pressure by Josh [Allen] right in the quarterback’s face, he just threw it up. And then CJ turned around and knocked the ball down. So, those were two really good plays that he had. I think he showed his skillset, his speed."
