When the Jaguars took tackle Luke Joeckel with the second overall pick of the 2013 draft, the idea was that they’d have a cornerstone on their offensive line for years to come.
Two years into Joeckel’s career, there’s no certainty that things are going to play out that way. Joeckel fractured his ankle as a rookie and struggled as the left tackle on a line that allowed 71 sacks last season, leaving big questions about whether he’ll wind up being the player they hoped they were getting.
Jaguars coach Gus Bradley said that the team expects to see better play from Joeckel in 2015, but stopped short of saying that the tackle’s play this year will determine whether or not he has a future in Jacksonville.
“With Luke, it was his first full year like, ‘I played left tackle. I understand some of the things I need to work on and I am going to go get that right,’” Bradley said, via ESPN.com. “Our coaches were talking about his vision and we’ve got to work with him and his overall leverage. Last year we were talking about his strength and, ‘Let’s get your strength right and work on that.’ He did a great job in the offseason so now it’s getting more into the technical things. We look for him to make a good jump this year but make-or-break, we don’t talk like it in those terms.”
Bradley and company can frame it any way they like, but they’ll need to consider their options once the year comes to an end. They have to make a call on Joeckel’s 2017 option next May and anything other than a significant step forward will make it hard to make a further commitment to Joeckel at a crucial position on the offensive line.
