Former Draft Pick Returns to Jaguars

Earlier this week, the Jacksonville Jaguars waived former 2023 draft pick Cooper Hodges. Now, Hodges is back with the franchise after he cleared waivers.

The Jaguars announced Thursday that Hodges, who was waived with a failed physical designation, had cleared waivers and would revert to the franchise's Reserve/Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list.

This means that while Hodges continues to recover from his season-ending knee injury, he will still be apart of the Jaguars' organization.

A late Day 3 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft by Trent Baalke, Hodges was once seen as a future starter at guard. Season-ending injuries in back-to-back seasons have limited him to few reps and just one career start.

The new Jaguars regime has no ties to Hodges, and they clearly planned for some contingency scenarios for their offensive line depth throughout the course of the offseason in 2025.

The Jaguars and James Gladstone added six new offensive linemen this offseason, including four free agent veterans in Patrick Mekari, Robert Hainsey, Fred Johnson, and Chuma Edoga. The Jaguars also drafted Wyatt Milum and Jonah Monheim in the third and seventh rounds, respectively.

"You know what, again I'll go back to you can never have enough security across the offensive line. The depth there is important. I've been a part of scenarios where attrition has occurred, and it typically does throughout an NFL season, in particular across the offensive line, and it can be debilitating for an offense," Gladstone said after Day 2.

"That’s something that I don't want to put us at risk for, knowing just how important that is. So, continuing to sort of build the depth across that group is something we're prioritizing. I think to point back to some of the comments I made in the early going of being on the job, the idea of setting the dish in particular the internal sort of pocket, and a quarterback feeling comfortable with stepping into that, right? That's important as well. I think the moves in pro-free agency, the moves here, they all point to that. Certainly, look forward to seeing whether or not it plays out in the way that we would like, but I think this is a step in the right direction.”

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