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Tim Tebow isn’t the only tight end the Jaguars officially signed today.
Announced moments ago, Jacksonville has signed its fifth-round pick from this year’s draft, tight end Luke Farrell. Farrell will receive a contract similar to his draft selection placement, pick No. 145 overall, as past drafts.
He becomes the third rookie to sign his contract with the team, including wide receiver Jalen Camp and defensive end Jordan Smith.
Farrell will compete for playing time this season as the team looks to reshape its tight ends room.
In four years at Ohio State, Farrell played in 44 games while making 32 starts, catching 34 passes for 380 yards four touchdowns with the Buckeyes.
His best season would come in 2018 when he caught 20 passes for 205 yards. He caught a touchdown against the Clemson Tigers in the College Football Playoffs as Ohio State advanced to the National Championship.
Farrell has direct ties to head coach Urban Meyer who recruited the tight end to Ohio State. He would play for Meyer for two seasons from 2017-18.
For now, Farrell will sport the No. 89, worn most recently by former Jaguars tight end Josh Oliver. Prior to Oliver, former Jaguars TE Marcedes Lewis wore the number and likely goes down as one of the best players in Jacksonville history due to his blocking presence.
“I think if you talk to Ohio State staff, they’ll tell you [he was] underutilized,” Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke said of the selection during the draft.
“If you look at their tight end core as a whole last year, they have a young man that’s on that team right now that’s going to be one of the top tight ends in the country. His production, when you look at the stats, isn’t great.
“I think they would say that that’s one thing they’re going to be working on too. But we had a lot of collaboration obviously with Ohio State and their staff and how he was used, and you went to his pro day and you saw things in him on pro day that made you believe there’s some upside as a receiver and he’s not limited to just being a blocking tight end.”