What Drew the Jaguars to Rayuan Lane

Jacksonville Jaguars rookie safety Rayuan Lane III enters the NFL as one of the most productive college safeties in recent memory.

For a Jaguars team that is looking to quickly get back to their winning ways quickly in 2025, it is important to have players who have seen and done it all long before they will be asked to again see and do it all.

That is where Lane comes in after a long run as Navy's top defender. A starter for 43 games in a row dating back to his freshman year, he impressively held the longest streak of starts in the FBS for a safety and the second longest by any player in the secondary.

To be the most reliable and productive force in Navy's defense requires a certain about of toughness and resilience. To earn those many reps, one has to check all of the boxes on and off the field.

It is thanks to that level of experience that Jaguars coaches like defensive backs coach Anthony Perkins long saw the value in adding a player with his traits on and off the field.

"He was a highly productive player for them and he played a lot of football," Perkins said after the end of OTAs earlier this offseason.

"Really good athlete on tape. You saw burst, saw the ball skills, same, same thing. Really good tackler. So all of the tangible skill sets that you can see on tape, really liked and then all the feedback that we got from those people at Navy, everything was 1,000% you need that guy in your building."

The Jaguars have had him in the building for two months now, and all impressions have been positive. Lane, a Day 3 pick in April, faces a steep climb to start on defense but the Jaguars have long valued defensive backs for special teams coordinator Heath Farwell to utilize. Lane has all of the traits to be a special teams star for the Jaguars, if that is what is required.

But, as always, Lane will be there for whatever is asked. He was there every single day for the Navy defense, and that is what the Jaguars can lean on now.