The Jacksonville Jaguars said early in training camp they wanted their high draft picks to play early and often. They took them early for a reason, and they wanted to see them play meaningful snaps much sooner than later.
Doug Pederson and his staff stayed true to their commitment to the exposure and development of their picks during Sunday's 28-22 loss to the Washington Commanders. Each of the team's top three draft picks -- Travon Walker, Devin Lloyd and Luke Fortner made Week 1 starts.
Walker, the No. 1 overall pick in April, was often deemed during the draft process as a raw and moldable piece of clay. The Jaguars believe that for him, experience on the edge is the key.
Lloyd, the No. 27 overall pick, missed most of training camp and the preseason with a hamstring injury before returning for the final week of practices and the preseason finale. After a month missed, Lloyd got the nod at inside linebacker over fellow rookie linebacker Chad Muma.
Fortner, the No. 65 overall pick, has been deemed by the Jaguars' staff and locker room as wise beyond his years, a rare rookie center who is ready to take the reigns of one of the toughest positions in football.
But how does Pederson think his trio of rookie starters played in the Week 1 loss? There were varying results.
Walker played 60-plus snaps and recorded his first career interception and sack, the first rookie to do so in his regular-season debut since T.J. Watt. While Walker wasn't a dominant force on a snap-to-snap basis, he had legitimately special flashes. The kind of flashes Pederson believes will only become more prevalent as he grows.
"It’s a great athletic play," Pederson said about Walker's interception of Carson Wentz.
"Sometimes they just fall into that, great vision on his part to make that play. Good to see. He played well. There’s some room for improvement in his game, but I think overall he did some good things.”
Then there was Walker's first-round and defensive counterpart in Lloyd. The Utah product got the start instead of Muma and played much like a rookie who missed most of training camp. Lloyd had his moments and ultimately collected 11 tackles, but the rookie linebacker also had his fair share of welcome to the NFL moments.
To Pederson, there was an easy answer as to why Lloyd struggled at times, specifically with his tackling.
"Devin played okay. Again, there’s some room for improvement there," Pederson said.
"I thought just watching him yesterday and going back and watching it today, things were a little fast early for him. He’s got to learn to exhale, take a deep breath, and really kind of get the game to slow down for him, be a little more under control in his play.”
Fortner had an up-and-down game against one of the best defensive lines he will face in his career, but Pederson thought he had his moments. Fortner was impressive as a run-blocker, though Pro Football Focus did credit him with four pressures allowed.
Still, it was an encouraging start for a young center in Pederson's eyes. Fortner started the first three preseason games, but the regular-season is a different beast -- and it is a beast Pederson thinks Fortner can manage.
"Good. I’d say not great but good," Pederson said.
"Again, at times, the game felt fast. As much as I try to tell the guys, preseason is one thing, regular season is another speed, playoffs are even another speed. It’s good to kind of get it behind us, I think, early. Obviously, you’d love to pull out the win, and we had chances to do that in the second half, but overall, he’s doing the right things. He’s headed in the right direction from an assignment standpoint, but we’ve just got to get those young guys to slow down and exhale a little bit and trust their instincts.”
In short, there were flashes from the Jaguars' rookies, though there were also teachable moments. They played like rookies making their NFL debuts. Now, it is up to them to improve as the season goes on, specifically this week against the Indianapolis Colts.
"It usually happens Week 2. It starts to slow down for them," Pederson said.
"It’s just like it was in OTAs and training camp with these guys. Things were real fast, then you get kind of comfortable and used to playing and being in there, and things start to slow down, and it’s nice to have a guy like Brandon (Scherff) next to him that can help him stay calm, but it’s a great learning experience for the young guys.”
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