JAGUARS TRADING SAFETY RONNIE HARRISON

Ronnie Harrison (David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire)

Another one bites the dust!

BY JORDAN DE LUGO

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The hits keep on comin'!

On Sunday, the Jaguars traded disgruntled pass-rusher Yannick Ngakoue to the Vikings in exchange for a second-round pick and conditional fifth-round pick.

On Monday, the Jaguars waived former fourth overall pick running back, Leonard Fournette, who quickly signed on with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Thursday afternoon Ty Dunne broke the news that the Jaguars are also set to trade 2018 third-round pick safety, Ronnie Harrison. Ian Rapoport confirmed Dunne's report, as the Jaguars are trading Harrison to the Browns for a fifth-round pick.

Harrison was entering his third year in the league, and his second as the starting strong safety for the Jaguars. In 2019, Harrison played in and started 14 games, racking up 71 tackles, two interceptions, and nine passes defended. While his stats were fairly impressive on the surface, his play was highly inconsistent, ranging from true difference-maker to liability from game to game.

Jaguars' head coach Doug Marrone made it clear on Monday after the Fournette news that roster decisions are being made on what the coaching staff and front office is seeing now, not draft status, not what players have done in the past, but how players are performing in practice right now.

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"That we were going to look at what we've been doing now in practice, not knowing how the players are going to come back, not knowing really who we had, not really having a lot of experience to them," said Marrone. "We were going to have to make good decisions on what's best for the team. Let's not go ahead and say because someone did something before, maybe we'll get the same type of results, or things [of that nature]. Really just trying to take the team and put the best team together for what we've seen in our practices. So at the end of the day, I just felt that was the best decision for us as a team. I think it gives us the best opportunity with the skill sets that we have with the other players in there. I just thought that was the best for the team and doing it now, we exhausted all trade opportunities. We weren't able to get anything there so I just felt that now we can work on the team, the plan, and get ourselves ready for the season."

The Jaguars have several candidates that could fill his role in the starting lineup. It seems most likely that Josh Jones takes on the mantle of starter. The former second-round pick of the Packers signed with the Jaguars this offseason and was impressive throughout training camp. 

Also in the mix is Andrew Wingard, who made the team in 2019 as an undrafted free agent. Wingard is a core special teamer but has played well on the defensive side of the ball during camp.

Daniel Thomas could also compete for snaps. The rookie fifth-round pick from Auburn has plenty of experience against the top competition in college football and has excellent athleticism for the strong safety spot. 

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