The Jacksonville Jaguars will reportedly be without right guard Patrick Mekari for the time being after he underwent back surgery. Mekari is expected to return this season, and the team is still determining whether or not to place him on injured reserve at the start of the season.
But until that time comes when Mekari is back on the field, who will start at right guard for the Jaguars?
Ideally, Walker Little may be the top option. However, he has been sidelined recently while working through an injury of his own, and until Cole Van Lanen is back on the field, Little may play tackle instead.
Jonah Monheim has taken snaps at right guard in recent practices with Wyatt Milum at right tackle. Milum is also another candidate to play right guard. He took 11 snaps there in the Jaguars' preseason opener and has often worked at guard since being drafted by Jacksonville.
A more creative route the Jaguars could go is moving Ezra Cleveland to right guard and then having Emmanuel Pregnon take over at left guard. Pregnon impressed in the preseason opener, but from the sounds of it, the Jaguars do want to give him time to develop. Also, with nearly all of Pregnon's college snaps coming at left guard, the Jaguars may prefer to keep him there.
This option is likely dependent on how willing the Jaguars are to start Pregnon right away. Cleveland has played 621 career snaps at right guard, all of which came during his rookie season in 2020.
Chuma Edoga could also be a candidate to take snaps here once he's back from injury.
The good news is that the Jaguars do have options. That said, as they deal with numerous injuries along the offensive line, the goal is to put the best combination of five players on the field rather than being hyper-focused on filling one specific need.
As the Jaguars search for answers, we will likely continue to see a lot of mixing and matching up front as training camp continues.
This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: Options at right guard for Jaguars with Patrick Mekari out