Jared Odrick and Julius Thomas on injured reserve

The Jacksonville Jaguars have placed defensive lineman Jared Odrick (shoulder) and fourth-string tight end Julius Thomas (back) on season-ending injured reserve. With two openings on the 53-man active roster, the club has activated offensive lineman Luke Bowanko from the physically unable to perform list and promoted first-year running back Bronson Hill from the team’s practice squad.

Bowanko was placed on the physically unable to perform list with a hip injury on August 29 with a torn hip labrum. He hasn’t played a snap since his rookie year in 2014.

In my opinion, both Thomas and Odrick should both be gone this offseason.

Thomas, for a lot of reasons, just wasn’t that good in Jacksonville. While it’s true that he had less to work with in quarterback Blake Bortles and offensive coordinator Greg Olson, his play declined sharply and it showed in his yards-per-catch average (9.7) and touchdowns (9) over the past two seasons. He also missed 11 out of 32 games due to injury.

Odrick is a good role player whose role should be nonexistent in the Jaguars defensive scheme. He was brought on as a big end, a lineman who could ideally set the edge against the run opposite the LEO and clean up a sack or two should the opportunity ever arise. But the Jaguars never had a LEO worth a damn and, in my opinion, the idea of a big end is flawed to begin with. If you have two defensive ends worth starting, the No. 2 should be able to set the edge well enough to not need a guy designated to do it. The trade off you have in not having a Jared Odrick is more than made up in the fact that you now have legitimate pressure coming from both sides of the offensive line.