Jaguars offensive line not as big a need as many thought in NFL Draft

The Jacksonville Jaguars used six of their seven 2016 NFL Draft picks on the defensive side of the ball, with their only offensive player being Arkansas quarterback Brandon Allen. If there's been one overall criticism I've seen of Dave Caldwell's 2016 NFL Draft class was that he didn't address the offensive line, particularly the interior of the line.

That's because it wasn't as big a need as everyone thought it was.

Caldwell was asked after the draft if there was any concern about not addressing the interior of the line, particularly the center position, but Caldwell didn't feel it was an issue and simply stated they felt that who was available when they picked the defensive players they did, weren't good enough to push for starting positions.

The team addressed offensive line in free agency with the signing of likely starting left tackle Kelvin Beachum and potential starter/depth player in Mackenzie Bernedeau on the interior line. The real key is that the Jaguars have a lot of potential and talent on the interior line, so if you look back at it, it makes perfect sense they opted to pass on late round offensive line talent in lieu of defensive line depth.

The team currently has Brandon Linder, A.J. Cann, Luke Bowanko, Tyler Shatley, Kadeem Edwards and Bernedeau on the interior of the line for three positions. We know that Linder and Cann are both good starters, and we've seen Bowanko be serviceable in his rookie season and reportedly barely lost out to Steven Wisniewski for the starting job last year. It's clear the team has someone in mind to play the center position, but it should also be clear that it would have been really difficult for a Day 3 offensive lineman to start on the offensive line, let alone work their way on to the roster.