Eugene Monroe

Eugene Christopher Monroe (born April 18, 1987) is an American football offensive tackle for the Jacksonville Jaguars. He was selected eighth overall by the Jaguars in the 2009 NFL Draft. He played college football at Virginia.

High school career
Monroe played at Plainfield High School in Plainfield, New Jersey, where he was teammates with Donald Jones. He was a SuperPrep All-American, a Parade All-American and All-USA by USA Today. Monroe was a two-time First-team All-State lineman after going the final 25 games of his career without allowing a quarterback sack. Monroe was considered a five-star recruit by Rivals.com and was ranked first among the top offensive tackle prospects in 2005.

College career
As a freshman at the University of Virginia, Monroe played left tackle and right guard and played in every game. In 2006 he played in 12 games and started six games. As a junior in 2007 Monroe was honorable mention All-ACC selection after starting 11 games at left tackle, missing two games due to knee injury. He did not allowed a sack during the regular season and had 20 knockdown blocks during the regular season, according to Virginia coaches.

In 2008 Monroe was a Unanimous All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection and was voted the ACC's most outstanding blocker. He started all twelve games at left offensive tackle and registered a school season-record 105 knockdowns, according to the coaching staff and had blocking consistency grade of 88.42%.

2009 NFL Draft
Monroe was widely believed to be one of the top two offensive tackles available in the Draft (alongside Jason Smith). Particularly praised for his pass blocking ability, Monroe drew comparisons to Walter Jones. He was selected eighth overall by the Jacksonville Jaguars, a pick that was declared a "steal" by Sports Illustrated's Tony Pauline. Monroe was the third offensive lineman from Virginia selected in the top 15 of an NFL draft in four years, following D'Brickashaw Ferguson and Branden Albert.

Jacksonville Jaguars
In an effort to rebuild their offensive line, the Jaguars selected Monroe and Eben Britton with their first two picks. Monroe was expected to compete with veteran free-agent acquisition Tra Thomas for the start at left tackle. On August 14, 2009 the Jaguars agreed to a five-year deal with Monroe.

Monroe started his first regular season game at left tackle in week one of the 2009 NFL season against the Indianapolis Colts. As of midseason, Monroe's play was inconsistent by most accounts. He missed week four with an illness, and was also benched in week five. Monroe played in 15 games with 13 starts during his rookie season.

In the 2012 season, Monroe started all 16 games at left tackle for the team.