The Jacksonville Jaguar' rookie class debuted during the preseason opener vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers, but which rookies stood out amongst the rest?
We break it down below.
Travis Hunter played 19 snaps: 11 on offense and eight on defense. He did not make any highlight plays, but he was seemingly in the right place and executing the correct details of each play on offense and defense.
Caleb Ransaw did not play due to injury.
Rookie offensive lineman Wyatt Milum has practiced at both guard and tackle since training camp began, and it was right tackle where he did his work against the Steelers.
“He definitely showed that to be able to go from tackle to tackle, going to guard. He had the one jailbreak screen where he took the guy to the sidelines, which was cool to see," Jaguars head coach Liam Coen said.
"He's displayed some of that physicality, toughness, finish throughout the course of training camp. Really pleased with his maturation and his style of play. So definitely somebody that's going to continue to earn more reps.”
One of the most impressive rookies in the opening preseason game was Bhayshul Tuten, who scored on a pile-moving run.
“I thought he ran it pretty well, actually. I thought from a physicality standpoint, if you're going to take the positive from the other night was on both sides of the ball was physical." Jaguars head coach Liam Coen said earlier this week.
"We stopped the run, and we ran it okay, but we ran it when we kind of needed to and became a little bit more of a throw game. I thought he did some nice things. He was able to make some guys miss in the hole. He ran hard. He had good ball security. So, I was pleased with Tuten.”
Rookie linebacker Jack Kiser played the second-most snaps of any defender and looked solid all night long, recording three combined tackles and a tackle for loss.
Jalen McCleod did not play due to injury.
With one tackle for loss on defense and one impressive special teams in space while with the coverage units, Saturday was a solid showing for rookie safety Rayuan Lane.
"I think I was a good display, what Rayuan Lane [DB Rayuan Lane III] did in the game. That's something we've seen all training camp, and it didn't surprise me. He was going to show up as a gunner outside," Jaguars special teams coordinator Heath Farwell said this week.
There may not have been a more productive debut from a Jaguars rookie than Jonah Monheim, who did not allow a pressure in nearly 40 snaps in pass protection. With games like that, Monheim could be in line to be the No. 2 center over veteran fourth-year center Luke Fortner.
Rookie offensive linemen with 20+ pass protection snaps and 0 pressures allowed in Week 1 of the preseason:
— The 33rd Team (@The33rdTeamFB) August 11, 2025
Jonah Monheim, JAX - 38 pass snaps
Luke Newman, CHI - 32
Chase Lundt, BUF - 32
Jackson Slater, TEN - 27
Esa Pole, KC - 27
Benjamin Chukwuma, TB - 24
Wyatt Bowles, LAR - 24… pic.twitter.com/3hyxSQx2WI
While Allen did not record a carry, he did catch all four of his targets for 20 yards and showed some impressive after the catch ability. Seeing how he performs between the tackles in Weeks 2 and 3 will be critical when it comes to his rookie role.
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