JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — When most teams lose their starting offensive tackle, chaos ensues. Who replaces him? How much help do you provide? Does the play calling have to change to help alleviate pressure?
Just ask the Los Angeles Chargers who have lost both starting offensive tackles and are struggling mightily in pass-protection. Luckily, Jim Harbaugh has Justin Herbert at quarterback.
Despite losing Anton Harrison for parts of the season and most recently Walker Little, Cole Van Lanen has stepped in and performed admirably.
Whatever the Jaguars have needed, Van Lanen has delivered. He’s the only player in the NFL to play four positions across the offensive line, playing 46 or more snaps at every spot aside from center.
Not only is he playing anything and everything for the Jaguars, he’s doing so at a pretty high level. While the metrics aren’t really there to measure run-blocking, we can take a look at pass-protection data provided by Pro Football Focus.
On 437 pass-block snaps, Van Lanen has allowed 11 pressures and one sack. Don’t worry, I’ll do the math for you. That’s good for a 4.91% pressure rate and a 0.45% sack rate. Among the top-80 offensive tackles, those figures rank 26th and 21st respectively. That’s insane production from the Jaguars’ sixth offensive lineman and a guy who has played four positions.
When looking at left tackle specifically, he’s performing even better. Van Lanen has a total of 77 pass-block snaps at the blindside, allowing just one pressure and zero sacks. What more can you really ask for?
For some additional context, let’s compare him to the Jags’ other tackles, Anton Harrison and Walker Little. Harrison’s 5.42% pressure rate and 0.21% sack rate rank 32nd and 12th, while Little’s 8.26% pressure rate and 1.91% sack rate rank just 69th and 77th.
Those numbers are pretty hard to look at for Little. But to be fair, much of his pressures and sacks allowed came in just a few games. At the same time, those tough games are when you need your blindside protector to perform at his best. Seven of his nine sacks allowed on the season came in a four-game span from weeks 6-10. Four sacks alone came against the Seahawks.
It should be noted that Little has ranked among the NFL’s top-20 tackles in run-block win % via ESPN analytics for much of the season, however, he recently fell just outside. His run-blocking, in addition to his next door neighbor Ezra Cleveland, have been huge for the Jags’ ground game this season.
Pass-protection has noticeably improved the last two weeks with Van Lanen at left tackle as the unit has allowed just two hits and zero sacks, however, keep an eye on the rushing attack.
Jaguars’ running backs are averaging just 3.3 yards per carry the last two weeks, despite significant early leads and advantageous rushing situations.
Regardless, the Jaguars should have zero complaints about the play of Cole Van Lanen. He’s been a quiet hero for this team and an offense that has seven straight games of 25 or more points. Whatever the Jaguars need, Van Lanen is ready to deliver and do so admirably. He might just be the team’s future at left tackle.
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