Luke Joeckel

Luke Tobias Joeckel (; born November 6, 1991) is a former American football offensive lineman. He was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars second overall in the 2013 NFL Draft. He played college football at Texas A&M, starting all 37 games at left tackle from 2010 to 2012. In his final year, he won the Outland Trophy, awarded to the nation's top college football interior lineman, and was named a unanimous All-American. He was also a member of the Seattle Seahawks.

Early years

A native of Arlington, Texas, Joeckel attended Arlington High School, where he was an All-State offensive lineman for the football team. As a senior, he anchored an offensive line that averaged just under 475 yards per game in the 2009 season. His twin brother, Matt, played quarterback for Arlington. His older brother, David, played offensive lineman at DePauw. Joeckel's father, David, now a trial lawyer in Fort Worth, was a four-year letterman and three-year starter as an offensive lineman at Texas Tech (teammates with Joe Walter), under coaches Rex Dockery and Jerry Moore, 1979–1982. His grandfather, Reece Washington, played tight end for Texas Tech.

In track & field, Joeckel competed in the throwing events. He had top-throws of 13.10 meters (42 ft 11 in) in the shot put and 34.44 meters (112 ft 7 in) in the discus throw.

Regarded as a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, Joeckel was listed as the No. 5 offensive tackle prospect of the class of 2010, behind only Seantrel Henderson, Rob Crisp, Shon Coleman, and James Hurst. Despite growing up as a Red Raiders fan, Joeckel chose Texas A&M over Texas Tech. He also had offers from Alabama, Louisiana State, Nebraska, and Oklahoma, among others.

College career

Joeckel attended Texas A&M University, where he played for the Texas A&M Aggies football team from 2010 to 2012. He enrolled in January 2010, and went through the Aggies' spring drills. As a true freshman in 2010, Joeckel started all 13 games at left tackle. The Aggies averaged over 165.8 rushing yards per game and featured a 100-yard rusher in nine games, six of which belong to Cyrus Gray. Joeckel earned Freshman All-American honors by the Football Writers Association of America and Scout.com.

As a sophomore in 2011, Joeckel started all 13 games again and was a second-team All-Big 12 noselection. He was part of an Aggies offensive front that allowed just nine sacks in 13 games and set school records for total (490.2 yards per game), passing (291.1 yards), and scoring (39.1 points) offense.

As a junior in 2012, Joeckel started all 13 games at left tackle, protecting freshman quarterback Johnny Manziel's blind side as he went on to pass for 3,706 yards over the season, earning him Heisman, Manning, and O'Brien honors. Joeckel himself won the Outland Trophy, awarded to the nation's top college football interior lineman, and was named a consensus All-American.

NFL scouts praised his performance against Louisiana State's talented defensive line, in which Joeckel matched-up well against defensive end Sam Montgomery. “I think he is better than Joe Thomas and Matt Kalil,” one NFL general manager said according to ''Pro Football Weekly''.

Joeckel played alongside future Atlanta Falcon Jake Matthews, who played right tackle from 2010–2012. When Joeckel left Texas A&M, Matthews switched to left tackle in 2013. In September 2013, after an NFL.com writer asked five NFL executives who was the better player between Matthews and Joeckel, three of the executives said Joeckel.

Professional career

By midseason, Joeckel was projected as a Top 10 selection in the 2013 NFL Draft by ''Sports Illustrated''. Ranking him #1 on their "Big Board", ''CBS Sports'' projected Joeckel as the first offensive tackle to be selected with the first overall draft pick since Jake Long in 2008. On January 8, 2013, Joeckel announced his decision to forgo his final year of eligibility. According to ''CBS Sports'', Joeckel lacks the "natural tools" of the 2012 fourth overall pick Matt Kalil, but "is considered the more polished lineman out of the college ranks." NFL.com analysts Gil Brandt, Brian Billick, Scott Pioli, and Charles Davis predicted that Joeckel would be the No. 1 pick. In late January, ''Sports Illustrated'' also projected Joeckel to be the No. 1 selection.

After the combine, ''Sports Illustrated'' still projected Joeckel to be the first player selected in the 2013 NFL Draft. In March 2013, Pat Kirwan of CBSSports.com, projected Joeckel to be selected fourth overall, by the Philadelphia Eagles.

A week before the draft, the Chiefs were believed to take an offensive tackle at No. 1, after having traded for quarterback Alex Smith. Their decision reportedly came down to Joeckel and Eric Fisher. The Chiefs selected Fisher, allowing Joeckel to fall to the Jaguars, who selected him second overall. Joeckel stated that his immediate reaction to not being selected first overall was "not the most pleasant thing ever," though added that he has used it as motivation. Joeckel became the first Aggie offensive lineman selected in the first round since Richmond Webb went ninth overall to the Miami Dolphins in 1990.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Despite playing at the left tackle position during his college years, Joeckel began his professional career at right tackle. Joeckel signed a four-year contract with the Jaguars on June 22, 2013 that included a $13.8 million signing bonus and was worth approximately $21 million. After the Jaguars traded left tackle Eugene Monroe to the Baltimore Ravens on October 1, 2013, Joeckel returned to his natural position on the left side. Joeckel's rookie season became short-lived as he played in only five games due to sustaining an ankle injury the next Sunday against the St. Louis Rams, when Rams defensive tackle Kendall Langford rolled up Joeckel’s leg. Later that day, it was announced he would miss the remainder of the season. He was placed on injured reserve on October 8.

Joeckel entered his second season having recovered from the injury during his rookie season. Pro Football Focus viewed him as one of the worst offensive tackles in the NFL in 2014 and held him responsible for eight quarterback sacks. In the 2014 season, Joeckel started all 16 games at left tackle.

In the 2015 season, Joeckel started 14 games at the left tackle position.

On May 2, 2016, it was announced that the Jacksonville Jaguars would not pick up the fifth-year option on Joeckel's contract. On August 30, 2016, Jacksonville Jaguars coach Gus Bradley announced that Joeckel would switch to the left guard position while the newly acquired free agent Kelvin Beachum took over at left tackle.

Joeckel was placed on injured reserve on October 4, 2016 following knee surgery.

Overall, Joeckel started 35 games at left tackle from 2013–2015, and four games at left guard in 2016.

Seattle Seahawks

On March 11, 2017, Joeckel signed a one-year contract with the Seattle Seahawks. He started 11 games at left guard for the Seahawks in 2017.

References

External links

Seattle Seahawks bioJacksonville Jaguars bioTexas A&M Aggies bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joeckel, Luke
1991 births
Living people
Players of American football from Texas
Sportspeople from Arlington, Texas
All-American college football players
American football offensive guards
American football offensive tackles
Texas A&M Aggies football players
Jacksonville Jaguars players
Seattle Seahawks players