What Have the Jaguars Seen in Rookie TE Brenton Strange?

Doug Pederson knows tight ends. 

The Jacksonville Jaguars head coach has been around productive tight ends for legitimately his entire NFL coaching career, from Brent Celek to Travis Kelce to Zach Ertz to Dalles Goedert to Evan Engram, Pederson has seen tight ends rack up productive season after productive season. 

Now, the Jacksonville Jaguars are hoping Pederson can work his magic touch again after selecting Penn State tight end Brenton Strange at No. 61 overall and making him the second-highest drafted tight end in franchise history. 

Among the most important traits Strange showed at Penn State was his versatility. Whether he was split wide, lined up in-line, removed from the line of scrimmage, or as a wing- or H-Back, Strange flashed the ability to do it all -- which is exactly what made Pederson, the Jaguars and tight ends coach Richard Angulo so high on him. 

"So whether it's in line, whether you split out, whether he is in the backfield, just a guy who can play multiple spots and be productive too," Angulo told Jaguar Report after the offseason program ended. "So it's not a guy who can just do it, but he can also be productive there as well."

Strange caught one pass for four yards and one touchdown as a true freshman before starting five games in 2020, catching 17 passes for 164 yards and two touchdowns. Strange then became a full-time starter in 2021, starting all 13 games and catching 20 passes for 225 yards and three touchdowns. Strange had his best season in 2022, starting all 13 games and catching 32 passes for 362 yards and five touchdowns. 

"Yeah, to me, it was just the feel of the passing game with him, and really everything," Angulo said when asked what stood out to him about Strange during the pre-draft process. 

"He was definitely doing a good job on line of scrimmage. But he just had a good understanding of what the scheme was trying to do, how to get open, whether it was a scramble drill, anything, he just kind of had a way of and a knack of kind of finding his way around the ball. And that's kind of what we seen as he as he's coming here, you know, just he's got a pretty good understanding of scheme."

The tight end position is known as one of the hardest positions in the NFL to succeed at as a rookie and even in the following years. Look at Evan Engram for a prime example, while Luke Farrell also presents another potential one. And to be one of the exceptions to the rule, it takes a keen ability to quickly adapt to NFL schemes and pace.

So far, Strange has shown he can do just that.

"Obviously, he's learning new schemes and everything with our playbook. But he just kind of gets it. So that's been really pleasant to have from him," Angulo said. "And being able to transfer things from the classroom onto the field and be able to see it on tape, it's been really good."

It is a rare trait in a young tight end to be able to play so many roles and to have so much thrown onto one's plate. Most young tight ends are still learning how to swim when they enter the water, let alone being asked to master different strokes. 

But so far, Strange has shown he has the ability to be a potential exception. While it is early, the Jaguars can rest easy knowing the early returns are positive. 

"Especially now in OTAs this early, being able to do those things have been impressive," Angulo said. 

"Again, we got a long way to go. You know, there's definitely a lot more layers to this thing. Especially now you get live people in front of you. So we'll see how he reacts when that happens. But yeah, I've been definitely impressed with where he is at."