What Have the Jaguars Seen in Rookies Anton Harrison and Cooper Hodges?
The Jacksonville Jaguars' offensive line has been a hot topic this offseason.
From losing a big-name right tackle in Jawaan Taylor, to left tackle Cam Robinson's four-game suspension for violating the NFL's performance-enhancing substance policy, to the selection of Anton Harrison at No. 27 overall in April's draft, the offensive line has been a major focus of the franchise.
Then there is seventh-round rookie Cooper Hodges, who the Jaguars selected with the No. 226 overall selection to fortify their depth. With other young players like left tackle Walker Little, center Luke Fortner, and left guard Ben Bartch set to play key roles alongside veterans like Robinson, guard/center Tyler Shatley, and right guard Brandon Scherff.
The plan for Week 1 is for Harrison to start at right tackle, a position he played sparingly at Oklahoma during his career as a standout pass-protector.
Harrison started 23 games at left tackle for Oklahoma over the last two seasons, standing out as one of the nation's top pass protectors at an early age. His first reps with the Jaguars will be at a position he has just one start under his belt, starting at right tackle opposite of veteran left tackles Walker Little and Cam Robinson.
But what have the Jaguars and offensive line coach Phil Rauscher seen in Harrison so far?
"Anton has stepped up and done kind of what we expected him to. And he's a really good foot athlete, And he's taken moving to the right very naturally and we're excited about that," Rauscher said at the conclusion of the offseason program.
The Jaguars are confident in Harrison's ability, trading down twice and still selecting the young and athletic tackle who they would have drafted at No. 24 anyways. But the fact that he will start next to the leader of the offensive line and a former All-Pro in Scherff, as well as learn from Robinson and veteran swing tackle Josh Wells, gives the Jaguars an extra boost.
And overall, him working with Brandon and then Josh and Cam and just working with the veteran guys has really helped him," Rauscher said.
"He's extremely smart. He asked great and thoughtful questions. So we're excited about that. And then overall, even though it's vs. air, or just jog through different things, like you could tell he gets it. Like things are things are firing, and forming, he's thinking about the right things.
"I think that once training camp starts and he really gets to work with the guys, it's going to be something that we're real happy with."
As for Hodges, the Jaguars took a Day 3 shot on the college tackle and, so far, have gotten the expected results out of a player Rauscher describes as "country strong,".
Hodges, who was announced on the draft stage as a guard, was a two-time team captain at Appalachian State, starting 51 games at right tackle over the last four years. During that time, he was named a two-time Second-Team All-SBC and a two-time First-Team All-SBC member.
"I think Cooper's done a really good job since we've brought him in. Overall he's developing at rate that we're happy with. He's a strong kid," Rauscher said. "So like even hitting bags and doing different things, you could tell that the physical aspect of it once he puts his shoulder pads on is not going to be an issue.
"Mentally, he's really made very few mistakes. He's done a really good job, just overall with, with the scheme that we put in and we put in pretty much 70 to 80% of the offense at this point in the offseason. He's developing in a pace that we're really happy with."
