What the addition of Kelvin Beachum means for Luke Joeckel

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The Jaguars recently added left tackle Kelvin Beachum, but will the addition of a new left tackle effect Luke Joeckel's role as the teams starter?

By Jordan de Lugo

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First things first; it must be stated that for Kelvin Beachum to have any impact for the Jaguars on the field, he must first regain his health after tearing his ACL half way through the 2015 season. Once he is medically cleared to play then he will have to prove that he is still the same player (or close to it) in order to provide competition for Luke Joeckel at left tackle.  

If Beachum is able to return to health and show that he is still an effective left tackle then he will undoubtedly force Luke Joeckel to improve or be relegated to the bench.  Prior to Beachum's injury in 2015 he was a dominant pass blocking left tackle and an above average run blocker.  

All of this is purely conjecture at this point, but for the sake of figuring out some of the different scenarios that could play out we will try to make some sense of this signing. Here are some options on how this whole story could play out. 

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• The Jaguars have maintained that they are confident in Luke Joeckel at left tackle, so it's possible that they signed Beachum to start at a different position along the offensive line, perhaps right tackle if they are unsatisfied with Jermey Parnell's play, or maybe in even guard if they elect to move Brandon Linder or A.J. Cann to center. 
• Perhaps they truly just want more depth at the tackle position and believe that Kelvin Beachum will be a quality role player (doubtful). 
• In my opinion the most likely scenario is that the Jaguars hope for Beachum to be ready to play at some point in the beginning of the 2016 season. They hope that he pushes their current starter at left tackle, Luke Joeckel, to play the best football of his career, and vault him into the upper tier of left tackles in football. But, Dave Caldwell knows that it is a strong possibility that Joeckel won't be able to live up to expectations and with Joeckel's contract being up after the 2016 season, Caldwell will evaluate Joeckel and Beachum (only 26 years old) in 2016 to decide which one to keep moving forward after the 2016 season. 

One thing that is for sure is that Kelvin Beachum brings more talent to the Jaguars offensive line.