Walker

Little

Fellow offensive linemen Ezra Cleveland and Brandon Scherff were cleared from the injury report. Linebacker Ventrell Miller, questionable with an ankle injury, is the only other player on their report this week.

Little missed Week 17 with the ankle issue and is on track to sit for the team’s regular season finale as well. He was replaced by Cole Van Laden last week. Fellow offensive linemen Ezra Cleveland and Brandon Scherff were limited in Wednesday’s practice and should be good to go for Week 18.

No surprises for the Jaguars’ Week 17 inactives. Savage will miss this game due to a concussion. Meanwhile, Walker Little (ankle) is another significant inactive as he misses his first game of the season, leaving the left tackle position in lurch for the Jaguars in a battle of higher draft picks against the Titans.

The deal includes $26 million guaranteed and keeps little in Jacksonville through 2027. The former second-round pick opened the year as Cam Robinson’s backup. The Jags eventually moved on from Robinson via a trade to Minnesota, granting Little the starting job midseason. He has played well so far, allowing just two pressures and one sack in his four starts according to Pro Football Focus. Little was set to hit free agency in the offseason but played himself into a sizable deal to remain with the Jags.

Little started the Jags’ first four games at left tackle and then kicked into left guard once Cam Robinson returned from his suspension. He then went down with an MCL sprain and was unable to return in Week 5. Little is expected to miss a few weeks because of the knee issue but avoided a more serious injury.

Taylor, the incumbent, has been penalized 32 times in three seasons and has been up-and-down as a blocker. Little started three games at left tackle after being picked in the second round in 2021. As a left tackle prospect, Little’s probably a better pass protector than Taylor is at this point.

Jacksonville drafted Little with the No. 45 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft but he did not see any action in the first two weeks of the season. He is a gifted athlete but has only played 72 snaps of football since the start of his 2019 collegiate season. As long as their starters remain healthy, the plan is for Little to stay off the field as a rookie.

The Jags also inked fellow second-round pick, offensive tackle Walker Little, to the standard four-year deal. With Little and Campbell on the books, Jacksonville’s entire draft class is under contract. Campbell (6'2/185) sports a similar build to his Bulldog teammate, Eric Stokes, with long arms that help him control opposing receivers. He is an aggressive defender in press coverage and utilizes his large frame well. Although the Jags signed Shaq Griffin in free agency, Campbell should immediately slot into a top-three role.

Little (6’7/313), a former top-10 overall recruit, enters the NFL as a mystery after taking only 72 combined snaps the past two seasons due to a season-ending knee injury suffered in the 2019 opener and a subsequent 2020 opt-out. Little retains his ideal frame and smooth technical prowess, two components that made him one of the country’s most sought-after recruits just a few years ago. He struggled with speed in the pass game and a lack of drive power in the run game earlier in his career. Little is too long and light in the pants to play guard, so he’ll have to make it as a tackle. Fortunately, he’s a strong athlete, submitting an 89th-percentile pro day profile, with a fabulous 7.44 second 3-cone drill (92nd percentile). Little could develop into a high-end starter if he can clean up his deficiencies. He’ll struggle to see the field until he does. He shares stylistic similarities with Luke Joeckel, a talented prospect ultimately lacking in durability and on-field consistency.

Little’s 4.81 40-time ranks in the top 98 percentile for NFL starting tackles. In fact his shuttle, three-cone and broad jump marks were all at least measured in the 70th percentile for offensive tackles at the next level. The only metric where Little underperformed was his 9 3/4" hand size, which placed him in the 25th percentile. Otherwise, Little’s pro day has to be considered a success. Walker’s projection is muddied by a near-complete lack of games played over the last two seasons. The 6-foot-5, 315-pounder went down with a knee injury at the start of the 2019 campaign, opted to return to school for 2020, then declared for the draft this past September after the Pac-12’s initial decision to table the season due to the coronavirus pandemic. His lack of recent game tape may be an issue, but this strong athletic showcase will likely secure Little a spot on Day 2 with the potential to slide into the bottom of the first round.