Jacksonville Jaguars promote Jeremy Ebert, Marcus Burley to roster

The Jacksonville Jaguars have made some minor moves to the back end of their roster today by promoting wide receiver Jeremy Ebert and cornerback Marcus Burley from the practice squad to the 53-man roster. In order to make room for Ebert and Burley, the Jaguars have also announced that they have waived guard Jacques McClendon and defensive end Chris McCoy.

Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Jeremy Ebert (80) catches the ball in a punt-return drill during the first day of training camp in pads at EverBank Field. Mandatory Credit: Phil Sears-USA TODAY Sports

Ebert is the most notable of the four names, and he was drafted by the New England Patriots in the 2012 draft out of Northwestern. Patriots fans had hopes that Ebert could eventually play at the level of Julian Edelman in the slot, and that would have been a good return on a seventh-round investment. Ebert had a productive college career, can play special teams, and he has the quickness and general skill-set of a guy who can play the slot.

I like the decision made by the Jaguars to promote Ebert to the 53-man roster, and it will be interesting to see how much he has learned heading into his second season in the league. He’s basically been on the practice squad to this point, and the Patriots released him this offseason after not liking what they saw. Ebert is an intriguing player who has some talent, and the Jaguars were wise to pick him up as another former Patriot on their team.

He’s on the 53-man now, and we’ll likely see him just contribute on special teams without any tangible targets. As for Marcus Burley, the Jacksonville Jaguars are likely just promoting him for added depth at CB, since depth at CB is important and the Jags are dealing with some minor injuries at the position.

You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter for more NFL updates and analysis @SorianoJoe. Be sure to like us on Facebook here and follow our site on Twitter as well.