The Jacksonville Jaguars wrapped up preseason with an undefeated record, but now have to make the tough decisions before the regular season begins.
The team has until 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday to cut its roster down from its current 90-man total down to 53 players.
For a suddenly deep roster with too many talented players and not enough spots, the Jaguars have some tight maneuvering to do before Week 1. Which players can they sneak through the waiver wire and get back on the practice squad? Which ones will get promptly scooped up by another team?
With those questions in mind, here’s our final guess at the 53-man roster on Tuesday afternoon:
Quarterback (2)
- Trevor Lawrence
- C.J. Beathard
There will be plenty of Jaguars fans and a whole bunch of Canadian football fans who won’t be happy if Nathan Rourke gets cut Tuesday. But they should all prepare for what seems to be an inevitability at this point.
Jaguars coach Doug Pederson has already confirmed that Beathard will be Lawrence’s backup and offensive coordinator Press Taylor said there’s not much reason to keep three passers if two are healthy.
Rourke’s preseason surely means his NFL career won’t be over Tuesday, but a spot on the 53-man roster doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.
Running back (4)
- Travis Etienne Jr.
- Tank Bigsby
- D’Ernest Johnson
- JaMycal Hasty
The Jaguars have a one-two punch in Etienne and Bigsby, and — if the final preseason game was any indication — it seems Johnson is the third option.
The question is whether or not Hasty is worth keeping as a fourth-string option. Jacksonville coaches love the running back room and probably want to keep it as in tact as possible.
So long as Jaguars coaches still see special teams in Hasty’s future (he played 156 snaps on special teams during the 2022 season), his spot on the roster should be safe.
Wide receiver (6)
- Calvin Ridley
- Christian Kirk
- Zay Jones
- Jamal Agnew
- Parker Washington
- Tim Jones
There’s been a heated competition for the last two spots in the wide receiving corps, but this group of six has always seemed like the final configuration.
After Tim Jones wrapped up his preseason by burning a Dolphins cornerback for a 74-yard touchdown, there’s not much reason to think he won’t stick around as the sixth receiver.
Tight end (4)
- Evan Engram
- Brenton Strange
- Luke Farrell
- Gerrit Prince
The top three are locks. It’s tough to know if Prince did enough to be a fourth tight end on the roster, though.
Prince was a standout in training camp, but he had a pretty quiet preseason. Still, the progress he’s made and his special teams performance in preseason make him too valuable to send through the waiver wire.
Offensive line (9)
- Walker Little (LT)
- Ben Bartch (LG)
- Luke Fortner (C)
- Brandon Scherff (RG)
- Anton Harrison (RT)
- Blake Hance (OL)
- Tyler Shatley (OL)
- Cole Van Lanen (OL)
- Josh Wells (OL)
- Cam Robinson (OT) – won’t count against roster count while suspended
The top six players are locks, but the bottom three are still up in the air. Shatley and Wells are dealing with injuries, and Van Lanen has been buried on the depth chart.
Still, that trio’s versatility and play in preseason stands out above the rest of the reserve lineman.
As for seventh-round pick Cooper Hodges, Pederson didn’t exactly hide that the injured reserve could be in the rookie’s not-so-distant future.
Defensive line (6)
- Roy Robertson-Harris (DL)
- DaVon Hamilton (DT)
- Folorunso Fatukasi (DL)
- Adam Gotsis (DL)
- Jeremiah Ledbetter (DL)
- Tyler Lacy (DL)
- Dawuane Smoot (DL) – won’t count against the roster count while on PUP list
The group of six here isn’t hard to find, it’s just unclear if Hamilton will actually be on the active roster when the regular season starts. While Pederson has given positive updates about the lineman, the PUP list may be the best route to keep Hamilton and open a temporary roster spot.
If that happens, Raymond Vohasek may be in line to stick on the 53-man roster for a while.
Outside linebacker (4)
- Josh Allen
- Travon Walker
- Yasir Abdullah
- Jordan Smith
The million dollar question this week is: what will the Jaguars do with K’Lavon Chaisson.
The 2020 first-round pick didn’t play at all Saturday against the Dolphins. Was that a sign that the Jaguars coaches are confident in what they’ve seen from the rusher? Or is it evidence that the team aims to move on from Chaisson and didn’t want to risk injury before floating him on the trade market?
My guess is that the Jaguars would prefer to move forward with 2021 fourth-round pick, Jordan Smith.
Inside linebacker (4)
- Foye Oluokun
- Devin Lloyd
- Chad Muma
- Caleb Johnson
The notable absences from this group are Shaq Quarterman and Ventrell Miller.
Quarterman has been simply outplayed by every other inside linebacker in preseason and Miller suffered a foot injury Saturday.
Pederson didn’t offer a timeline on Miller’s recovery, but stashing the rookie linebacker on injured reserve would make sense.
Cornerback (6)
- Tyson Campbell
- Darious Williams
- Tre Herndon
- Gregory Junior
- Christian Braswell
- Montaric “Buster” Brown
Chris Claybrooks is a special teams ace who might still be in the mix, but his mounting legal troubles could cause the Jaguars to look elsewhere. It’s also too early to rule out Tevaughn Campbell, Erick Hallett II, and Divaad Wilson.
The above group of six seems to be standing out, though.
Safety (5)
- Andre Cisco
- Rayshawn Jenkins
- Andrew Wingard
- Antonio Johnson
- Daniel Thomas
Pederson already essentially confirmed that Johnson will make the roster despite a hamstring injury, telling reporters last week, “I think he’s done enough.”
Thomas is the tricky one, as his value on the roster has come primarily on special teams. As long as coaches still feel good about the reserve safety playing gunner, he should stick.
Special teams (3)
- Brandon McManus (K)
- Logan Cooke (P)
- Ross Matiscik (LS)
If Matiscik isn’t ready to play Week 1, the Jaguars could put him on injured reserve and roll with Tucker Addington for a while. That’s the only decision to make at special teams, though.
