Black and Teal
FanSided

Myles Jack could be a huge bargain if he breaks out in 2017

By Daniel Lago

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 02: Frank Gore of Indianapolis is tackled by Myles Jack of Jacksonville during the NFL International Series match between Indianapolis Colts and Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium on October 2, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Ben Hoskins/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 02: Frank Gore of Indianapolis is tackled by Myles Jack of Jacksonville during the NFL International Series match between Indianapolis Colts and Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium on October 2, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Ben Hoskins/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

After inexplicably sitting for most of his rookie season, Myles Jack could be an outstanding value for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

After the first two rounds of the 2016 NFL Draft, you could have excused Jacksonville Jaguars fans for being immeasurably excited. After nabbing arguably the best player in the draft with the 5th pick in Jalen Ramsey, the Jaguars watched their second most coveted prospect tumble into the second round. When general manager David Caldwell traded up to ensure he got Myles Jack, it felt like a miracle.

As has become custom in Jacksonville, the hype did not extend to success in the regular season.

While most of the regression around the team was easy to analyze, one of the most curious developments of the 2016 was the lack of playing time for Myles Jack. Former head coach Gus Bradley seemed content to have him sit behind Paul Posluszny.

That won’t happen in 2017 as Jack will take over the starting middle linebacker role.

Gary Davenport over at Bleacher Report went through all 32 teams to identify the best contract on every club. He decided to go with pure projection for the Jaguars and banking on potential:

"Best Contract: Linebacker Myles Jack—4 years, 6.3 million (through 2019)Jaguars linebackers coach Mark Collins told Mike Kaye of First Coast News that Myles Jack is going learn by doing as the starting middle linebacker in Jacksonville this year.“I think from OTA 1 to OTA 10, he’s made great strides from a communications standpoint,” Collins said of Jack. “In recognition, pre- and post-snap communication, but he’s still got a long way to go. He’ll learn from the burn a little bit.”It cost the Jaguars a redshirt year of sorts, and getting Jack in Round 2 of the 2016 draft means no fifth-year option.But if his surgically repaired knee is 100 percent, Jack’s a top-10 draft talent."

This is fine, although if we are going with projection then it might be wiser to pin Allen Robinson as a bargain if he produces anywhere near the level he did in 2015.

That being said, it’s nice to see someone so high on Jack. I certainly haven’t jumped off the bandwagon, but it’s easy to forget just how highly touted Jack was coming out of UCLA. If he can be the rangy coverage linebacker that this scheme needs, the Jaguars will be a force defensively.

Home/Jacksonville Jaguars News