Doug Marrone Excited to See What Tyler Eifert Brings to Jaguars on and off the Field
Doug Marrone hasn't had the best of luck at the tight end position since he took over as the Jacksonville Jaguars head coach in 2017. Seemingly year after year, roadblocks have been put up to prevent the position from contributing to the team.
In 2020, Marrone is hoping Jacksonville has found an answer, at least in the short-term, to their tight end woes in former Pro Bowler Tyler Eifert, who just spent seven seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals after being selected in the first round in 2013.
Eifert has battled injuries throughout the majority of his career, but he has also flashed top-tier receiving ability for the position, catching 52 receptions for 615 yards and 13 touchdowns in his Pro Bowl 2015 season. Eifert, 29, played 16 games for the first time in his career in 2019, leading to some optimism moving forward from Marrone.
"With Tyler, I have always liked him," Marrone said in a conference call with local media this week.
"Tyler has been a guy that really [has dealt with some things] injury wise and last season being able to play a full season … Talking with him, it is obviously the first offseason that he is healthy."
In 59 career games, Eifert has caught 185 receptions for 2,152 yards and 24 touchdowns, including 43 receptions for 436 yards and three touchdowns in a struggling Bengals' offense last season. While he will be 30 during the 2020 season and still needs to prove he can remain healthy on a consistent basis, Marrone thinks Eifert presents value to the passing game that they haven't seen from the position in recent years.
"What you see in him is someone that is a three-down tight end who can obviously sustain himself in the run game and is a vertical threat," Marrone said. "He is really savvy as far as being able to sit down in zone, being able to make moves and being able to get open. It is something that we have not had here for a while."
But it isn't just what Eifert will do when he is on the field on Sunday's that Marrone hopes will help the Jaguars. Ideally, Eifert can help play a role in the development of tight end Josh Oliver, a 2019 third-round pick who struggled with his own injuries in his rookie season.
Oliver played in only four games and caught three passes for 15 yards last season due to a hamstring injury that forced him to miss most of the first half of the season and a back injury that ended his rookie campaign. Oliver, 23, is immensely talented and the Jaguars are high on his potential, but sooner than later they will need to see the production to justify his draft slot.
In a perfect world for Jacksonville, the veteran experience of Eifert can provide Oliver with an example to follow as he tries to carve out his own path in the NFL.
"We think that bringing Tyler in is going to help a player like Josh Oliver who is going to be behind him and be able to see him. Also, you can see both of those players on the field at the same time," Marrone said.
"I think that’s always good when you can have that person, that right guy that can go in there and win for you, that can help another player along. It’s kind of the situation where I talked before when I was talking about Tyler Eifert, who’s going to come in here and what a great opportunity for Josh (Oliver) to be around him and for our team to learn from someone. In my experience as a player, you learn a lot from the coaches, but when I look back at my career and how I coached the position when I was a position coach, I learned a lot from other guys there."
While the Jaguars' tight end position is improved compared to how it was composed a month ago, there is still work to be done to fill out the depth at the position, a point Marrone is cognizant of.
"James O’Shaughnessy is rehabbing. We can’t wait to get him back. We really felt that he was playing his best football right before his injury," Marrone said. "Charles [Jones] is a tight end that we have and we were happy we were able to get him some work last year. Again, it is still a position that we are still looking to upgrade and get ourselves players.”
