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Quick feet and a tugboat tumble: Jaguars rookie offensive linemen impressing during camp
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- Quick feet and a tugboat tumble: Jaguars rookie offensive linemen impressing during camp
There won't be much of a ramp-up period for Jacksonville Jaguars rookie right tackle Anton Harrison . He won't get a redshirt season, nor will he be asked to battle for his position during preseason action. No, he's the team's starter, tasked with protecting the team's most prized possession: Trevor Lawrence .
Though there may be some trepidation about starting a rookie, Jacksonville's current offensive line group appears to be ready for the task. Harrison is fortunate, he gets to play next to one of the best guards over the last decade in Brandon Scherff , someone the rookie grew up watching while living in Washington D.C.
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"He played for my hometown team so watching him growing up and being the All-Pro that he is, playing beside him now is just great," Harrison said last week as he prepped for his first NFL preseason game. "Trying to learn from him every day and copy what he does every day to make myself great."
Scherff gave a succinct but rave review about the rookie when asked about him earlier this week.
"I thought he did a really good job. We've watched film and he's got good length, he's got really quick feet. He's quiet as a rookie, all he wants to do is learn, he likes to ask questions and just tries to learn each and every day," he told the Times-Union.
And Harrison isn't the only rookie taking a page or two out of Scherff's book.
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Jacksonville Jaguars guard Cooper Hodges (75) and offensive tackle Anton Harrison (76) take part in the NFL football team's rookie camp, Friday, May 12, 2023, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
The pride of Baker County High
Drafted in the seventh round of this year's draft, guard Cooper Hodges waits in the wings for an opportunity with his hometown team. He's impressed and played the most snaps (68, ironically Scherff's number) out of any offensive player during the team's first preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys .
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The rookie right guard is seemingly attached to the former All-Pro guard, seen talking to Scherff extensively during training camp practices. The similarities between the two players are jarring — at least in terms of their pre-snap stances.
Jaguars guard Brandon Scherff (68) helps Cooper Hodges with offensive line techniques during a training camp practice last season. Hodges said he learned on veterans such as Scherff to learn more about the pro game while he missed last season with an injury.
"You look at him and then you look at Scherff sometimes and, I mean, they damn near mimic each other in their stance ... well, (Hodges) mimics Scherff," Jaguars offensive line coach Phil Rauscher told the Times-Union with a laugh Tuesday.
Ultimately, both players have taken the initiative to hone in on their craft. Still, Harrison is a bit further along than Hodges.
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Technically, Hodges — as a seventh-round draft selection — is battling for a spot on the team. Although, that competition appears to be dwindling by the day with Hodges listed as the primary backup to Scherff on the team's depth chart.
Harrison's role is more defined, etched in stone with the rookie taking all of the starting reps in both practice and the team's preseason opener. He has to start fast, and can thanks to an aspect of his game that everyone raves about — his feet.
Harrison's 'rare' quick feet give him upper hand
Jacksonville Jaguars offensive tackle Anton Harrison (76) warms up Monday, Aug. 14, 2023 at Miller Electric Center at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. Today was the 14th training camp session.
In football, the term "rare" is oftentimes thrown out indiscriminately. For Harrison, though, his quick feet are mentioned first — with good reason — when talking about the young tackle with coaches and players alike.
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Against the Cowboys, Harrison routinely beat his opposition to the punch, literally and figuratively. On the team's first touchdown of the evening, Harrison handled a stunt by the Cowboys' defensive line with ease, moving from one player to the next to keep Lawrence clean. According to Pro Football Focus, Harrison didn't allow a single pressure.
That's been an ongoing theme throughout training camp for him.
"I'd say it's pretty rare," Raushcer said when asked about the rarity of Harrison's quick feet as a rookie. "... His feet are the best I've seen out of a rookie. We drafted Christian Darrisaw when I was in Minnesota in the first round and Chrsitian's an unbelievable player, but foot-speed-wise, Anton's got him beat in that sense."
Darrisaw was graded as one of the best tackles in all of football last season by numerous outlets including PFF, which lists Darrisaw as the second-best overall tackle in 2022.
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All of the great tackles in history have great foot speed, Ruacher mentioned noting that players like Trent Williams and Brian O'Neil, along with Cam Robinson . Having that, he explained, can accelerate the learning curve for a young tackle. It enables them to have the ability to handle speed rushers.
"When you don't have great foot speed, you have to have great length and fundamentals and stuff. So [having great foot speed] kind of gives you an edge ... If you screw up, your feet can catch you back up and get you through the down, which is hard," he said.
Scherff has also seen the foot speed from Harrison, telling the Times-Union that it's "crazy" that Harrison is only 21 years old with his foot speed.
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"He's 10 years younger than me," Scherff said with a smile. "But, his feet are really good. When you watch film, he skims across the ground. He covers a lot of ground, his change of direction is amazing, so he's been doing a good job."
Harrison still has plenty of work to do, but he has received high praise from both Rauscher and head coach Doug Pederson as of late.
Raucher believes that a leadership group of Scherff, Robinson, Tyler Shatley and even Lawrence in his third season will benefit Harrison's growth tremendously.
"All that comes together. It's a unit leadership group that's awesome," he said.
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Cooper 'Tugboat' Hodges takes big leap
Jacksonville Jaguars offensive guard Cooper Hodges, who played high school football at Baker County, is coming off a rookie season lost to a knee injury.
Hodges, who played football at Baker County High just about 40 minutes away from TIAA Bank Field in Glen St. Mary, has become one of the stars of training camp, but not necessarily only for his football performances.
As camp continued, Hodges took it upon himself to become the unofficial hype man, pumping up the crowd just prior to practice.
He coined the nickname "Tugboat" for himself and during his daily routine, incorporated a cartwheel in the performance. The cartwheel was dubbed the "Tugboat Tumble" by Times-Union sports reporter Juston Lewis and adopted by Hodges and the rest of his teammates along the offensive line.
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Tugboat's teammates have taken notice of his enthusiasm and Scherff had nothing but praise for the rookie right guard.
"Cooper's energetic. If you tell him to go do a cartwheel, do 10 cartwheels, he'll do it for you. He said he's gonna do a cartwheel during a game, and I don't know if you saw that, he did a cartwheel after the [second] touchdown," Scherff said.
"I think he's taken the tugboat tumble to a whole other meaning, it's kind of fun for him. He's from around here, 30 minutes away. So, it's probably a dream come true for him to play for the Jaguars. He's been a good addition to the group."
Hodges performed the move following the team's second touchdown against the Cowboys on Saturday, something Rauscher jokingly said he probably shouldn't continue doing "every time."
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"It's fun for the first time," Rauscher said with a smile.
Hodges has impressed coaches with his football performances, too. He has been named the direct backup to Scherff, at least on the team's initial unofficial depth chart during the preseason. He played nearly every snap Saturday, giving coaches plenty of good film to look at.
"For his first time out, I thought he played physical. He was aggressive, for the most part assignments were pretty clean, there's some things we can clean up that we'll do this morning as we watch the tape," Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said Monday when asked about Hodges.
"I thought overall, his performance really was good for a rookie offensive lineman in his first game."
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Hodges' growth from rookie camp to now has been great, Rauscher noted.
"When he first came in for rookie camp, I mean, there's times you're like 'Oh boy, here we go.' Every day was a new day, 'let's see what Tug[boat] does today,' and now you're seeing him stack [good] days," Rauscher said.
Having Scherff as a mentor will help, but so will having a player like Tyler Shatley, who has been with the Jaguars since 2013, and originally signed as an undrafted free agent. Shatley's knowledge of the game and his position will help Hodges grow further.
"[Hodges] continues to be a ball of clay that we just mold into whatever he's gonna end up being," said Rauscher. "It's been good to see those guys come along and really become one of the group."
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Every day will be an opportunity for both Hodges and Harrison to continue growing, honing in on their respective crafts. For now, it's all good on the rookie front.
"If they keep doing what they're doing," Rauscher noted, "we're gonna be happy."
Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on the website formerly known as Twitter, at @Demetrius82 .
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This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars' rookies Anton Harrison and Cooper Hodges impress in training camp
