Myles Jack will need to fight to get starting job

Fans are expecting big things out of Myles Jack, but is the 2nd round pick even going to start?

Jacksonville Jaguars fans rejoiced when UCLA linebacker Myles Jack fell all the way to the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft and into the lap of the north Florida franchise. After snagging Jalen Ramsey in round 1, the Jaguars were already winners of the draft just 2 rounds in.

Getting Jack in the second round was fortuitous partially because the team was considering the prospect in the first round. Given their high grade, it’s curious to see now that the Jaguars don’t really have a role for him as a starter currently. With Telvin Smith playing the role most commonly projected for Jack, the team needs to find a way to utilize him.

Some people have suggested trotting Jack out at strongside linebacker, or the OTTO position, but he has to beat out Dan Skuta.

"8) Jaguars OTTO: Myles Jack vs. Dan SkutaThe Jaguars drafted Jack out of UCLA to run their defense at middle linebacker. For now, that’s Paul Posluszny‘s job on running downs. Jack will play in sub-packages right away, but we’re curious to see if he’ll steal snaps from veteran Dan Skuta on the outside, too.Now is probably the time to tell you that coach Gus Bradley calls his outside linebacker spots “LEO” and “OTTO” for mystical reasons better explained elsewhere."

As training camp begins, it looks like Jack is on the outside looking in as the backup Mike linebacker.

Jack taking snaps with the 2nd team is most likely more about getting him acclimated with the defense in a more centralized role and in a leadership position, but it’ll be interesting going forward to see how many snaps he gets in the base defense. He’s almost certainly going to see time in subpackages during passing downs, but he’s going to have to pick up the defense quickly to become a starter.