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2009 Offensive Line Analysis - Jacksonville Jaguars

2009 Projected Starters:
Left Tackle: Eugene Monroe / Tra Thomas
Left Guard: Vince Manuwai
Center: Brad Meester
Right Guard: Maurice Williams
Right Tackle: Eben Britton / Tony Pashos

2008 Injuries:
Vince Manuwai: Weeks 2-17
Brad Meester: Weeks 1-6
Maurice Williams: Weeks 2-17
Richard Collier: All season

2008 Statistics:

ALY (Adjusted Line Yards): It is an alternate measure for yards per carry developed by Football Outsiders that takes into account various factors including down, distance, situation and opponent.
Source: www.footballoutsiders.com

Overview:
By week two in 2008, the Jaguars had lost their two starting guards for the season, their top backup at guard for the season and their starting center for a few weeks. Their season was pretty much over at that point and in the end they finished with five wins and ranked 20th in yards of offense, their worst offensive season since 2004. Surprisingly, the Jaguars still managed to rank 14th in the NFL with 4.2 yards per carry but they were 25th in sacks allowed with 42, 13 more than the previous year.

The battle for the starting job at left tackle will be very interesting to follow this off-season. The Jaguars signed three-time Pro Bowler Tra Thomas in free agency after Khalif Barnes, who was very disappointing last season, left for Oakland. In 11 seasons with the Eagles, Thomas missed only 11 starts and last season he ranked third amongst left tackles with only 2.0 sacks allowed. He is not a particularly good run blocker but he is very good in pass protection and despite his age, he is still an above average tackle. Battling with him will be 2009 first round pick Eugene Monroe out of Virginia. Monroe is very strong at 6’7” and 320 lbs and has pretty quick feet for his size. He will need to improve his awareness to be the left tackle of the future for the Jaguars but he is a hard worker and the transition should not be too much of a problem for him. If the Jaguars feel he’s not yet ready for the job at left tackle he could move over to the right side for the 2009 season. Likely to compete for the job at right tackle are seventh-year veteran Tony Pashos and 2009 second round pick Eben Britton. Pashos started 31 games in the past two seasons for the Jaguars since being signed as an unrestricted free agent from Baltimore in 2007. Pashos is a very good run blocker and a perfect fit for the right tackle position at 6’6” and 325 lbs. He is excellent when blocking in front of him but his movements are limited so he will struggle at times when blocking in motion. Even though he has excellent work ethic, his pass blocking is below average so he remains an average tackle at best. Eben Britton will challenge Pashos for that job and it wouldn't be a huge surprise if he was the starter in week one. Britton is a very smart player and has good strength at 6’6” and 310 lbs. He will probably need to get a little bigger if he wants to be as effective as he was in college in run blocking. His main weakness is his lateral movement which means he will be a better fit for the right tackle position in the NFL and could even be moved inside to guard.

The Jaguars are hoping that starting at left guard will be their 2003 third round pick from Hawaii, Vince Manuwai. He is a very big guard at 6’2” and 330 lbs and is a powerful run blocker. He has great strength and at only 29 years old still has plenty of years left in the NFL. He will occasionally struggle in finding the right guy to pickup and his slower feet do not help him with that. He will get beat by defensive linemen who have a combination of strength and agility so he is slightly below average in pass protection but his great run blocking skills make him an asset for this line. The problem however is that Manuwai is still recovering from his knee injury and he may not be at full strength when the season begins. Starting at right guard will be Maurice Williams who was also placed on injured reserve last year after the week one game. Williams was the starting right tackle before the signing of Tony Pashos but he handled it very well and accepted a pay cut to stay with the team. After Chris Naeole’s injury in 2007, Williams earned the job at right guard for the final eight games of the regular season and in those eight games the team averaged 4.8 yards per carry and the line allowed only nine sacks. Williams was then rewarded with that same starting job for the 2008 season, a much better fit for him than at tackle since he is a very solid run blocker when healthy. He lacked the lateral mobility to be effective at tackle but he can hold his own in pass protection at guard. 2007 fifth round pick Uche Nwaneri adds good depth at guard and is also very strong at 6’3” and 325 lbs. He is similar to the other linemen on this team and excels in small spaces but will be beaten by athletic opponents in pass protection. Nwaneri started 15 games last season and it was obvious that he was not ready yet but he should be better this year if he has to step-in. Nwaneri may have to begin the season as the starting left guard if Manuwai isn’t ready to go.

Starting at center will once again be the former second round pick Brad Meester. It will be his tenth season as a starter for the Jaguars but he’s had problems with injuries in the past few seasons. Meester is smaller than the two guards at 6’3” and 300 lbs and creates a nice balance in the middle of this line. He is very smart and excels at reading defenses which is why he is so important to this line. The 29 year old Dennis Norman provides depth at center. He is very big at 6’5” and 325 lbs and much more suited to be a guard but can play center if required to do so. He started 14 games last season at center and guard but it became obvious that he cannot be relied on for more than a few games.

2009 Outlook:
The Jacksonville Jaguars had a very difficult year in 2008 and it is hard to believe that any team could have done better with all those injuries. The good news however is that it means that this year they have more depth than ever and they should have one of the best offensive lines in the NFL in 2009. In 2007, the Jaguars were third in the NFL with 4.6 yards per carry and 15th with 31 sacks allowed. Since 2007, they replaced their below average tackles with a three-time Pro Bowler, an eighth overall pick and a second round pick. The Jaguars also have three backups who combined for 45 starts last season. No one knows who the starters will be on this line but one thing is for sure, this line will be much better than it was last season and it very well could be better than it was in 2007.

See all of our 2009 Offensive Line Analysis Articles