Brandon Linder Candidate for All Rookie Team

The 2014 rendition of the Jacksonville Jaguars had a very distinct theme – youth. They started and played the most rookies of any team in the NFL by a significant margin. The Jaguars were rife with inexperience on the offensive side of the ball especially, where 2/5th of the offensive line were mid-to-late round rookies (Brandon Linder and Luke Bowanko), and the left tackle (Luke Joeckel) was a 2nd year player with only 4 games under his belt. The offense was run by a rookie quarterback (Blake Bortles), and his primary skill position players were 3 rookie wide receivers (Allen Robinson, Allen Hurns, and Marqise Lee) and a 2nd year running back making the conversion from college quarterback (Denard Robinson).

With so many rookies making big contributions, there should be a few guys who are candidates for the all rookie team. Ben Natan over at With the First Pick put together his own all rookie team, and he put two Jaguars on the 2nd team.

Second Team: Brandon Linder (Jacksonville Jaguars)
Second Team: Telvin Smith (Jacksonville Jaguars)

It would be nice to see some Jaguars on the first team, but it’s hard to argue their candidacy of the guys who did make it. Zack Martin and Joel Bitonio were the first team guards (Martin was actually voted on the first team All Pro squad), and the first team linebackers were Chris Borland, Anthony Barr, and CJ Mosley. The case could be made for Telvin to go ahead of someone like Anthony Barr, but he started pretty slow this season before coming on at the end of the year.

One thing to note is the wide receiver position, which was absolutely loaded this season. Sammy Watkins, the first receiver taken in the draft, didn’t make the first or second team. With Odell Beckham Jr., Mike Evans, Kelvin Benjamin, Jordan Matthews, and Jarvis Landry all as viable candidates, it’s easy to see why none of the Jacksonville receivers got a sniff of the all rookie team.


(blackandteal.com)