During the Jacksonville Jaguars’ scrimmage on Friday evening, third-year offensive tackle Anton Harrison didn’t just line up at his usual spot on the right side of the line, but he saw some left tackle snaps as well.
A first-round pick by Jacksonville in 2023, Harrison has played in 33 out of a possible 34 games over his first two seasons. Of his 2,055 career regular-season snaps on offense in the NFL, 2,034 have come at right tackle, according to PFF.
From the sounds of it, the decision to give Harrison some left tackle snaps isn’t because he’s now competing with Walker Little. But instead, with Cole Van Lanen sidelined for the rest of training camp, the Jaguars want to cross-train Harrison so he can potentially fill the swing tackle role in the short term.
“With Cole being out, we have to figure out who our swing tackle is going to be for the short term right now, specifically,” Liam Coen said via ESPN. “We still have, obviously, competition going on at all spots, but specifically that position, we want to make sure that we’re giving guys the opportunity to be on the right side and the left side.”
In 2024, Harrison surrendered four sacks and 31 pressures. Among all tackles, he ranked 35th in pass-blocking efficiency, and he was 61st in PFF’s run-blocking grade, for what it’s worth.
Day-to-day consistency was the biggest thing that Coen wanted to see from Harrison during offseason programs. Through the early portion of training camp practices, Coen has seen progress from him in that regard.
“We have,” Coen said earlier in the week about Harrison’s consistency. “Definitely. For the first few (practices), I’ve been very pleased with Anton. And we mentioned that to him. I asked him the other day in the hall. I said, ‘Hey, is this going to be every day? Is this how it’s going to be every single day?’ And he was very adamantly yes. And that’s what we have seen.”
With that said, Harrison is still likely competing for the starting job at right tackle. It’s not a given that this job is his entering the 2025 season. Following offseason programs, ESPN’s Michael DiRocco wrote that Harrison was rotating at right tackle with Chuma Edoga.
This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: Jaguars scrimmage: Why Anton Harrison lined up at left tackle