JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After spending most of his rookie season as the odd man out the Jacksonville Jaguars made a big commitment to Myles Jack this offseason by naming him their starting middle linebacker. It wasn’t Jack’s fault that he didn’t make a serious impact as a rookie.
The strong-side linebacker (Otto) position is an afterthought in Gus Bradley’s defense. Making things even harder on Jack is that Paul Posluszny and Telvin Smith had solid years at the other two linebacker positions. Posluszny and Smith were also the Jaguars linebackers in their nickel package.
Concerns over a knee injury dropped Jack from a likely top five pick in the 2016 NFL draft to the second round. Last season Jack had zero issues injury wise and the Jaguars are going to make sure he’s on the field much more in 2017.
Position: Middle Linebacker
2016 Stats: Jack was on the on the field for 239 snaps finishing with 24 tackles and half a sack.
2017 Projection: At the moment Jack will be a three-down linebacker for the Jaguars this season. His biggest adjustment will be making the defensive calls and making sure the other 10 players on the field are lined up correctly. Jack has the speed to roam from sideline-to-sideline and cover tight ends down the field. One thing that will help Jack’s development is that he was present for the Jaguars entire offseason program. UCLA’s class schedule caused Jack to miss most of the offseason program in 2016.
From the locker room:
Myles Jack on leaning on Paul Posluszny for advice:
“It’s not even occasionally, it’s frequently. Even when I’m out there I’m asking him questions like, should I have done this, should I have done that, what would you have done in a situation? After practice we’ll watch film, we’ll get together and we’ll watch it together. He’s been like an older brother to me, just really taking me under his wing. He’s been nothing but help and I greatly appreciate it because he doesn’t have to do that by any means, but I really appreciate it.”