The Jacksonville Jaguars' offensive line could see a lot of turnover in the near future.

That is especially true of the interior of the line, where an established veteran at each guard position must step up his game to keep his starting job in training camp.

Yesterday, I wrote about left guard Ezra Cleveland and his future in Jacksonville. Though Cleveland has played well for the Jaguars, he still has recent third-round draft picks Wyatt Milum and Emmanuel Pregnon nipping at his heels.

Cleveland needs to have a stellar season in 2026 if he wants to remain a Jaguar in 2027 and beyond. Even though Milum and Pregnon appear to be Jacksonville's starting guard duo of the future, Cleveland is still performing at a high enough level that it may be difficult for either to overtake him in 2026.

The same cannot be said for Jacksonville's right guard, Patrick Mekari.

Mekari did not meet expectations after the Jaguars signed him as a free agent in 2025. Not only did he miss three games due to injury, but he also did not play well when he was on the field.

According to an article by Paul Bretl of Jaguars Wire, Mekari ranked 63rd out of 83 eligible guards in run-blocking. In pass protection, he gave up 34 pressures and two sacks, ranking tied for 58th in pass-blocking efficiency. The 34 pressures were the 12th-most given up by a guard last season.

That is not what Jacksonville envisioned when the team signed Mekari to a three-year, $37.5 million contract.

A year ago, the Jaguars thought Mekari was a long-term answer at right guard. This year, the former Baltimore Raven may find it difficult to hold off Jacksonville's pair of young guns and keep his job.

The competition between Mekari, Milum, and Pregnon is setting up to be one of the team's biggest, high-stakes training camp battles. 

As mentioned in yesterday's story about Cleveland, the Jaguars didn't use third-round picks on Milum and Pregnon with the intention of them being backups. Both have considerably higher upside than Mekari, whose experience would be a biggest factor is he hadn't played poorly in 2025.

Both youngsters, especially Milum, could wind up winning the right guard job. Milum has a year of pro experience under his belt, while Pregnon is only a rookie. Pregnon is also more of a natural left guard, and he will likely take over that spot from Cleveland in 2027.

If Mekari does get beaten out for a starting spot, he likely will be kept by the team as a valuable depth option. However, the Jaguars would gain about $13 million in cap savings if they part ways with Mekari after the season.

Milum has a realistic chance at being Jacksonville's starting right guard this season. Mekari may go into the camp battle as the favorite, but he will have to elevate his play significantly to fend off Milum and Pregnon.

If it doesn't happen this season, Milum and Pregnon should be the starting guard tandem next year. However, Mekari needs to step it up if he wants to keep either of them from becoming a starter in 2026.

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