Position battles to watch in Jaguars training camp

The Jacksonville Jaguars made a few roster tweaks during the offseason but kept together most of their 9-8 team from last year.

Here are three key position battles to watch when training camp opens on July 19.

Backup quarterback

Projected backup: C.J. Beathard

Player to watch: Mac Jones

Trevor Lawrence is the unquestioned starter, and with the Jaguars investing $275M in him, the hope is they never have to see the backup quarterback on the field. But the wrinkle in this situation is one of the guys competing for the No. 2 job, 25-year-old Mac Jones, is looking for a clean slate to revive his career, while 30-year-old C.J. Beathard is a career backup and will likely be nothing more.

It would seem Jones has more incentive to show out in training camp and the preseason in hopes of earning another contract somewhere else, but there’s a reason Beathard has been largely unchallenged for the Jags’ backup spot for the last three seasons. Training camp could be make-or-break for Jones’ chances of ever being a starter again.

Wide receiver

Projected starter: Christian Kirk

Player to watch: Gabriel Davis, Brian Thomas Jr., Devin Duvernay

With Calvin Ridley now in Tennessee, Jacksonville needs to find Kirk’s complement on the other side. Davis was a big-play receiver in Buffalo who scored a lot of touchdowns, but he would disappear for stretches and there’s a reason the Bills didn’t try to re-sign him in free agency.

Thomas Jr. was the Jaguars’ first-round pick in April, and he was the top touchdown scorer in college football last season (he had 17 TDs at LSU in 2023.) He’s also got the size (he’s 6-foot-4) to be a Plaxico Burress-type of jump-ball WR who wins a lot of contested catches.

I also wouldn’t count Duvernay out in this situation either. Yes, he had just four receptions in 13 games last season, but in the three years prior, he averaged close to 40 targets a season and he could be a sneaky No. 3 option for the Jaguars.

Offensive tackle

Projected starter: Cam Robinson

Players to watch: Walker Little, Anton Harrison

Robinson and Little split equal time at left tackle last season with the former missing the beginning of the year due to a suspension. They were both solid but Robinson allowed one more sack and Little allowed more pressures and hurries, per Pro Football Focus.

Harrison seems to be a lock to start at right tackle, the position he played all of last season, leaving Little and Robinson to battle it out on the left side. If all things are equal, Little has a cap hit of just $2.45M while Robinson costs them $21.9M against the cap. No one would blame Jacksonville for cutting or trading Robinson to save a little over $17M and ride it out with the younger and cheaper Little at left tackle.