What Will Jaguars' Javon Foster Show New Regime?

Some NFL players don't get off to great starts in the league, but the group doing the drafting tends to protect that investment and bring it along with care. But what happens to a second-year player when a new administration comes in with no actual investment in somebody else's project? That's the battle right now in Jacksonville for OL Javon Foster.

Recently, On SI beat writer John Shipley discussed Foster's challenge ahead on the latest episode of the Jacksonville Jaguars Insider.

"Next guy is another recent draft pick, 2024, fourth-round pick, Javon Foster. When it happened, I was a big fan of the Foster pick. I liked his college tape. I thought he could be the future swing tackle, and maybe a guy who you can put in there now and then, and maybe you can grow into something else. And it just from the start of training camp last year, when pads came on throughout the preseason, it just looked like he was having a rough go at it. You know, he had that one really, really tough preseason game at left tackle, to the point where it just became a question of, to me, like, is this a guy you really want on the field?", asked Shipley.

"He only played four games as a rookie. He didn't record an offensive snap. He played 12 special teams snaps, and that was it, because it was pretty clear this last staff did not trust what they might get out of him if he was rushed onto the field. So, he makes the roster last year because he was a fourth-round pick, and of course, the Jaguars, Trent Baalke, etc, weren't going to cut a fourth-round rookie."

"But now brand new regime, a much more crowded offensive line than they had at any point last year. I mean, you've added Wyatt Milum, you've added Robert Hainsey, you've added Jonah Monheim, you've added Fred Johnson, you've added Patrick Mekari. You've added Chuma Edoga. [It's a] much more crowded offensive line, and he's instantly one of the guys who, in my opinion, is on the outside looking in. And this regime, has no ties to him. They can walk away from him. It's not like this regime picked him. They have no reason to buy into the sunk-cost fallacy."

"You know when it comes to Javon Foster, and you know, we've seen him take reps at guard throughout the off season program, maybe he has a really good training camp and preseason at guard. Maybe he becomes somebody who, yeah, they see with positive inside traits, and they just don't want to give up on him. That's a real possibility, I think. But you'll have to see, obviously, how he does in training camp, etc, when the pads come on. Right now, to me, he's a guy who is firmly on the outside and on a bubble. "

Javon Foster will get an opportunity to impress Head Coach Liam Coen and his other coaches in Jacksonville. But he will need an absolutely strong training camp to even have a chance. A move inside could help, but without the perfect storm, Foster could be moving on.