Ben Bartch: Latest Member of Jaguars' Rookie Class to Trend in the 'Right Direction'

Halfway through the 2020 season, it was hard to argue the Jacksonville Jaguars' 2020 NFL Draft class was making a huge impact. But fast forward to Week 14, and the team is seeing several of its dozen draft picks come into their own.

James Robinson has been Jacksonville's rookie gem for the entirety of 2020, but as impressive as he has been it is key to remember that he doesn't factor into the evaluation of the 2020 draft class. The team's most recent crop of draft picks consists of 12 players, the largest draft class in franchise history.

Several of those 12 players had among the best performances of their entire rookie seasons in a 27-24 overtime loss to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 13. After slow starts to the year for most members of the class, the Jaguars have seen steady development take place.

First-round defensive end K'Lavon Chaisson, for instance, just had what head coach Doug Marrone considers his best game of the season after recording five pressures and making numerous run stops in Minnesota.
Fifth-round receiver Collin Johnson has led the team in every major receiver stat the last two weeks and has four catches of over 20 yards in that span.
Second-round receiver Laviska Shenault left with an injury before halftime but recorded 68 yards from scrimmage and one touchdown on six touches.

The Jaguars have already seen picks such as DaVon Hamilton and Daniel Thomas make big impacts, and first-round cornerback CJ Henderson had a great performance against Davante Adams the last time we saw him on the field. All things considered, the class is trending in the right direction.

One major part of that move toward the future, though, is rookie guard Ben Bartch. With the Jaguars constantly in need of a versatile offensive lineman who can fill in at multiple spots, Bartch has played both guard spots for the team over the last two months and has seen his ability to hold his own improve with each passing game.

"I have seen improvement from him. I think he did a much better job in protection last week, so he’s trending in the right direction," Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone said on Wednesday.

"I’m happy with him. He’s a tough guy, he can move, he’s a big guy, plays multiple positions. I think it’s one of those things where as we work our way through the season and him playing, it’s going to make him better and I think we have to figure out what’s the best position for him because he can play multiple positions.”

As Marrone noted, improvement has been the key phrase with Bartch. He entered the NFL as a relatively raw offensive lineman after being selected out of DIII St. John's (Minnesota), so this was the expectation.

The former tight end had converted to offensive tackle toward the end of his small-school playing career. With the Jaguars, he was moved to guard since they had two starters in Cam Robinson and Jawaan Taylor and a backup in Will Richardson that they valued.

Bartch got his first chance to play in Week 6 and has since seen mostly consistent snaps as a rotational guard. He has flashed as a run blocker but struggled with pass protection up until Week 13, which Marrone said wasn't a surprise.

“I think early on you can see the finish in the run game. I thought he was doing a good job there. I think like a lot of players, especially coming from small schools and not having the preseason, the pass protection stuff, you’re going to get caught. It’s at a much higher level here than the run game," Marrone explained on Wednesday.

"I think it’s always one of those things that I know as a line coach and evaluating linemen, to me it’s a little bit easier to project how someone’s going to be in the run game from what I’m seeing on tape or what I’m seeing on film than in pass pro[tection] because sometimes some guys are just athletically gifted better than everyone else. Some guys, they get away with things technically and in the NFL you’re going to face someone that’s better than you at some time and technically you’re going to be in trouble."

Marrone would go on to say that Bartch showing the versatility to anchor at right guard and left guard when called upon has proven his value and his development. Considering all of his early-season reps were at right guard and he is the current starter at left guard while Brandon Linder and Andrew Norwell are injured, this is key. In the end, it is just one of the many aspects of the NFL that Bartch is experienced that Marrone feels will help him moving forward.

"People are like, ‘Well if you play guard, you play guard,’ but just think about it, it’s the opposite, all the footwork and the technique and the hands," Marrone said. Everything left and right’s opposite and it’s a whole lot more difficult. Then, [it’s] who you’re playing with. Obviously you’re on the right side playing with someone else, left side. If you’re swinging at guard, the only constant is the center that you’re working with.

"There are a lot of things you have to go through, but Ben’s done a good job for his first year and he’s trending in the right direction, which is good, and he’s getting experience which will help him down the road.”