How does one define an “underrated” NFL player?
“Sometimes, no matter how good they may be, they’re on the wrong end of the depth chart behind someone even better,” Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire wrote about such prospects on Friday. “They might be in systems in which coaches fail to recognize how their attributes are best deployed. Or, they may be part of a team where so many things are broken, nobody really pays attention to their efforts.”
Selecting one for each NFL team entering the 2024 campaign, Farrar zeroed in on defensive lineman Roy Robertson-Harris as Jacksonville’s “most underrated” player.
An undrafted free agent out of UTEP who first signed with the Bears in 2018, Robertson-Harris is a bit of a tweener at 6-foot-5 and 290 pounds, and he’s never put up huge pressure numbers. But in his last three seasons with the Jaguars after four years in Chicago, he has been more of a factor in both playing time and quarterback pressure. Moreover, he’s the kind of guy — and this is a relative intangible you need to see on tape — who glues a defensive line together with his ability to play everywhere from nose tackle to the edge.
Last season, Robertson-Harris compiled four sacks and a career-high 42 total pressures, and his combination of athleticism and awareness makes him an underrated force on Jacksonville’s defensive line. New defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen should have a lot of fun with Robertson-Harris’ skill set.
Over 48 appearances with the Jaguars, 47 of which he’s started, Robertson-Harris has recorded 116 total tackles including 14 for loss, 9.5 sacks and seven defended passes. He’s accumulated greater totals in each category over three seasons with Jacksonville than he did in four years with Chicago.
Robertson-Harris enters his third campaign with Jacksonville arguably in the first category of “underrated” players, caught up in the Jaguars’ deepened defensive line depth chart as the club’s defense switches schemes and welcomes new contributors.
Following Jacksonville’s free agency signing of former San Francisco defensive lineman Arik Armstead and 2024 NFL draft selection of former LSU lineman Maason Smith, Roberston-Harris is no longer viewed as a lock to start along the Jaguars’ defensive line.
Do you agree with Touchdown Wire’s take or is there a more deserving “most underrated” member of Jacksonville’s 2024 roster? Let us know your thoughts via social media at JaguarsWire on Facebook and @TheJaguarsWire on X (formerly known as Twitter).
