Which Jaguars Rookie Is Impressing Liam Coen

The Jacksonville Jaguars' rookie class is headlined by No. 2 pick Travis Hunter, but he is far from the only rookie who has caught the attention of head coach Liam Coen.

Following Friday's stadium scrimmage at EverBank Stadium, Coen praised seventh-round running back LeQuint Allen Jr. for his performance, which included a nice forced miss tackle against fellow rookie Jack Kiser on a catch out of the backfield.

"I think [RB] LeQuint Allen [Jr.] continues to show up in terms of just doing the right thing all
the time. He just plays hard. He plays fast. He made a great move in space over here," Coen said.

It was high praise from Coen, who also noted how much of a transition most of the rookie class is still undergoing in elevated situations like Friday's stadium scrimmage.

“Yeah. Good. I thought, okay. Okay. I would just say okay. I think you definitely saw some bright eyes in some ways," Coen said when asked about how the rookies performed with brighter lights on.

"Some of those younger guys need to get used to it. The lights do get a little bit brighter in here for them, so breaking the huddle, formations that they haven't been jacking up. They did a little bit tonight, but that's kind of to be expected in some ways. We'll clean this tape up and move on.”

Selected at No. 236 in the seventh round, the Jaguars selected Allen out of Syracuse after a productive college career. Allen was a two-time All-ACC running back and made 27 starts at running back in his college career, rushing for 3,359 yards and 26 touchdowns.

In his college career, Allen also caught 119 passes for 848 yards and six touchdowns.

Allen is joined in the backfield by veteran running back's Tank Bigsby and Travis Etienne, who have been the primary focus of the backfield in training camp. He is also joined by fellow rookie running back Bhayshul Tuten and undrafted rookie running back Ja'Quinden Jackson.

“I would say the thing that really stands out about the guys is their effort and embrace, how much they've embraced the opportunity to improve," Jaguars offensive coordinator Grant Udinski said earlier this week. "I think all those guys kind of had different areas that they've wanted to improve, individually or collectively, even as a group, and the way they've approached the protection scheme, the run game, that's a little bit different than some of the things they've done.

"They really embraced that and kind of approached it with a growth mindset. So that's been awesome to see the young guys step in and kind of have that, and even the older guys kind of fit right in with that and set the tone with that type of growth mindset to approach it where they're trying to buy in to the best of their ability.”