Anton Harrison's rookie triumph: fortitude and emerging as Jaguars' reliable pass blocker

Anton Harrison didn't have an easy start to his rookie season as the Jacksonville Jaguars' starting right tackle. But, he did make the most of his opportunity, growing with every repetition and quickly becoming one of the team's most reliable pass blockers by season's end.

In his first year, Harrison surrendered 6.5 sacks, according to ESPN, while going up against pass rushers such as Chris Jones, Kwity Paye, Leonard Floyd, T.J. Watt, Nick Bosa, Ed Oliver, Arik Armstead and Harold Landry, among others.

Harrison played 1,113 snaps, rarely missing a play while dealing with a right shoulder injury originally suffered during the preseason. Shortly after the season, Harrison underwent successful surgery on the shoulder, the Jaguars confirmed with the Times-Union on Thursday. The procedure was minor.

A true baptism by fire, Harrison didn't get a break and the Jaguars reaped the benefits, allowing for accelerated development. Harrison sometimes didn't receive any help against some of the league's top pass rushers. That's saying something.

Jaguars Final Report Card: Nobody earned honor roll distinction after season's epic collapse

The only three players that Harrison surrendered more than two pressures to this season were Watt, Bosa and Jones — an elite trio.

Harrison's game against Pittsburgh was one of his standout performances. Going up against Watt, Harrison allowed just one sack and three pressures. He went up against the pass rusher 95.7% of the time on passing downs.

"Anton [OL Anton Harrison], (had a) heck of a season. He played hurt and banged up and we’ve talked about it in here, he had an edge rusher every week, just about. He held up really well," Pederson said at his end-of-season press conference earlier this month.

"I know our guys talking about him know that he’s going to be a great player. That’s one we’re excited about."

'A lot of growth': Anton Harrison pleased with rookie season, understands there's room for more

It wasn't always easy for Harrison. The rookie was faced with multiple challenges at the start of his career in Jacksonville.

"I want to go against the best," Harrison said in November. "Get it out the way early, so I'm not surprised later. That's something I want to do, go against the best so I know what to expect next time or late in the season or even a playoff run. Things like that help me as a player."

Harrison mentioned at the time that as the season began to wind down, it was time for him to kick into overdrive, eliminating some of the missed assignments and "lock-in." According to the eyeball test and the metrics, he did just that.

Through the first eight weeks of the season, Harrison recorded just three positive pass-protection grades, according to Pro Football Focus. In the final games of the season, the rookie OL graded out positively in five out of the remaining nine games.

All of Harrison's allowed sacks, per PFF, came during the first eight games of the season, surrendering zero sacks in the final nine games.

"There was definitely a lot of growth for me, coming in, getting into the fire immediately. Ups and downs, as I expected. But, I'd say it went better than I expected," Harrison said earlier this month, the day after the team's season-ending loss to the Titans. "Still a lot of room to grow but, for my first year here and doing what I did, I feel it was pretty good."

A call back to his earlier comments about learning the speed of the game, Harrison added that he got better at the speed of the game.

"Just knowing the little things that's gonna make me one of the best at my position," he said.

Numbers don't lie: Anton Harrison in mix for top offensive lineman in '23 draft class

Harrison was the fifth tackle taken in last year's draft behind Paris Johnson Jr. (sixth overall, Arizona Cardinals), Darnell Wright (10th overall, Chicago Bears), Peter Skoronski (11th overall, Tennessee Titans) and Broderick Jones (14th overall, Pittsburgh Steelers).

Jacksonville made two trade-downs before acquiring Harrison. The team traded with the New York Giants first, giving up their original, No. 24 overall, selection before trading down again with the Buffalo Bills to pick No. 27.

Harrison was immediately inserted into the starting lineup, replacing Jawaan Taylor, who signed with the Kansas City Chiefs in free agency. Jacksonville saw instant returns for their selection and the rookie steadily improved as the season went on.

Among rookies with at least 100 pass block reps, Harrison accounted for the third-lowest quarterback pressure percentage allowed at 6.3%, according to ESPN.

The two players graded higher than Harrison were Houston Texans offensive linemen Jarrett Patterson (5.5%) and Juice Scruggs (6.1%). Scruggs gave up five sacks in 263 pass block snaps compared to Harrison's 663. Patterson gave up zero sacks in 254 pass-block snaps.

Harrison gave up the fewest number of pressures (42) of any rookie lineman who played at least 500 pass-block snaps. He gave up the lowest percentage of pressures at 6.3%.

Among all right tackles that played at least 300 pass block snaps, Harrison ranked third in quarterback pressure percentage allowed.

According to Pro Football Focus, Harrison graded out with the best pass-blocking efficiency at 97.6% among rookie tackles, a PFF stat that measures pressure allowed per snap while weighing toward total sacks allowed.

Harrison's ascension was realized during the team's Week 12 matchup against the Texans. Harrison was tasked with blocking Texans rookie third-overall pick defensive end Will Anderson.

Harrison delivered an elite performance, allowing zero pressures and sacks to the standout first-round pick.

Anderson had trouble all game against Harrison and totaled four combined tackles and one tackle for loss. The Texans routinely utilized Anderson on stunts to work games against Jacksonville's offensive line. Ultimately, quarterback Trevor Lawrence was not sacked.

Anderson accounted for 29 solo tackles, seven sacks, 22 quarterback hits and 10 tackles for loss during his rookie campaign.

Where Harrison, along with the rest of Jacksonville's offensive line, can improve is in run blocking. Jacksonville was one of the worst teams running the football last season, especially down the stretch.

The Jaguars ranked 30th in the NFL in yards per rush at 3.6 YPR. The team ranked 23rd in rushing yards per game at 96.8 YPG.

Harrison is expected to play to Lawrence's right for most of his career, but the young tackle is open to change if the coaches want him to.

"I feel like I can play either [right or left tackle]. I feel like I had a good year, my first year at right tackle and it's only growing from here, but I can still do both sides," said Harrison.

Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @Demetrius82.

If you're a subscriber, thank you. If not, please consider becoming a subscriber.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars' Anton Harrison ranked highly after growth in rookie season