Jaguars ST coach Heath Farwell needs to be reminded Cam Little is young

It's rare for sixth-round picks to get the spotlight. It's even rarer that they have an impact right off the draft, but Cam Little may very well do pull off the feat in rookie season. One of the most prolific kickers at Arkansas, the Jacksonville Jaguars drafted him to compete with Riley Patterson for the kicker job in training camp. After just a few days, Little came out on top and has generally been everything the Jags expected. This is probably why it's easy to forget just how young he is.

Jaguars special teams coach Heat Farwell praised Little during a press conference in training camp. During the exchange, he confided that he had dinner with the kicker and forgot he couldn't legally drink alcohol yet.

"The funniest thing I had was when I first went to dinner with him just realized he was 20 years old. He couldn't get a drink," Farwell said when he was asked if he had any funny anecdotes about Little. "You realize that. You're going, 'It's a 20-year-old.' You forget they're so young. He's a young kid that's coming along great. He's actually got a birthday coming up, so he keeps telling me he'll be 21 soon."

Little was born on August 17, 2003. He'll be 21 by the time the regular season rolls but he wasn't old enough to drink when he first met Farwell.

Little was the most accurate kicker in Arkansas history, leaving the program with an 82.8 completion rate. He also went 7-of-11 in field goals from 50 yards out. So far, he's routinely displayed his accuracy and leg strength in Jaguars training camp. On top of that, the Oklahoma native showed he can come up clutch.

On Day 9 of Jaguars training camp, head coach Doug Pederson stopped practice and asked fans to be loud before Little attempted a 51-yarder. He nailed it in spite of the noise.

Josh Lambo was as reliable as they come but he began to struggle in 2021. He was given the boot a few games into the season, and the Jags have been unable to find a long-term answer fix at kicker. Over the last three years, Matthew Wright, Ryan Santoso, Andrew Mevis, Riley Patterson, Brandon McManus, and a few others tried to bring stability to the position but they all came up short. The team's brass sure hope Little can put an end to their kicker woes.

Doug Pederson explains why the Jaguars are rolling with Cam Little at kicker

Riley Patterson and Cam Little were supposed to engage in a heated battle throughout the duration of training camp, but the competition just lasted a few days. Having seen enough, the Jacksonville Jaguars moved on from Patterson, who's since been picked up by the Washington Commanders.

"When know Riley. He's made some big kicks for us. It's an opportunity for him to catch on now with another team," head coach Doug Pederson said when asked about the decision to waive Patterson and roll with Little. "[It's] an opportunity for Cam to feel the pressure now of 'if you're the guy, you need to be the guy.'"

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Cam's done a nice job. I think he was 10-of-11 the other day, and put him into long kick situations the other day. Continue to cultivate that, put him in those tough situations, and let him feel that type of pressure. But it's an opportunity now for Riley to get picked up and continue his career," Pederson.

The Jags did Patterson right by moving in from him now and letting him latch onto another team before the preseason. Regarding Little, if they realized he's their guy, why drag the competition until the end of the preseason?

Ultimately, the Jaguars are giving Little to prove he can deliver. As the saying goes, pressure makes diamonds but also busts pipes. They'll soon find out in which category the rookie kicker falls.

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