In a matter of just a few months, this Jacksonville Jaguars’ roster has been reshaped very quickly under GM James Gladstone.
This isn’t an uncommon practice by any means. Most new GMs aren’t going to have ties to the returning players on the roster. They also want to bring in their own players who fit the new offensive and defensive schemes and the culture that they are trying to establish. All of that then leads to roster turnover.
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But even with that being the case and it being known that change was expected, Gladstone has operated at a fast pace.
The Jaguars were the only team in free agency to not re-sign one of their own unrestricted free agents. And including the recent additions of Trenton Irwin, Dawuane Smoot, and Dennis Gardeck, Gladstone made 15 outside free agent additions to this roster.
Then, in the NFL draft, nine players were selected, along with Jacksonville signing 22 undrafted rookies.
In total, and on a 91-man roster, that is an infusion of 46 new additions made–or over half of the roster has been turned over.
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And with so many new faces comes a lot of competition throughout the roster, which Liam Coen and the Jaguars are leaning into during offseason programs.
“It’s rep-to-rep, honestly,” Coen said of the roster via the team site. “It’s rack-to-rack is really kind of what we talk about. Getting guys in with the ones in the first rack and then slide them in with the twos with the next rack, and try to give guys opportunities, knowing they’re not truly getting judged and graded on the competition right now.
“We always want to compete in everything that we’re doing, but ultimately, it’s about trying to create that continuity at times within the system, within the offense and defense, and the calls.”
This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: Jacksonville Jaguars roster reshaped quickly under GM James Gladstone