After missing time with a knee injury in his rookie season, Wyatt Milum was expected to make a leap in Year 2. More specifically, the Jacksonville Jaguars wanted him to challenge Patrick Mekari for the starting job at right guard. But even with Mekari missing training camp, Milum has failed to seize the opportunity. To make matters worse, a recent scoop reveals that his bid for the starting job suffered yet another blow.
Michael DiRocco reported that Milum is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury, adding that the sophomore hog molly is expected to return for Week 3 of the preseason.
While it's good to know that Milum won't miss significant time, his odds of being the starting right guard have suffered a massive blow.
Wyatt Milum has struggled during Jaguars training camp
Patrick Mekari missed training camp and recently underwent a back procedure that puts his availability for the start of the regular season in question. During his absence, Wyatt Milum took all the first-team reps in practice. However, he struggled to make an impression. Then, the preseason came, and the former West Virginia Mountaineer left much to be desired, giving up a concerning four pressures on 11 snaps while posting an underwhelming Pro Football Focus overall grade of 54.6.
That's definitely not the kind of performance you want to see from a player competing for a starting job. Compounding the issue is that rookie offensive lineman Emmanuel Pregnon stood out, allowing just one pressure on 32 snaps and recording a PFF grade of 74.0.
Heck, offensive coordinator Grand Udinksi heaped praise on Pregnon after his strong showing against the New Orleans Saints.
"You see the physicality, you see the strength, you see the athleticism, you see the speed, and he's able to showcase that stuff now because he has a better understanding of the system, a better understanding of his rules," Udinski told reporters after Day 14 of training camp (2:20 mark). "When there's shifts and adjustments and movement by the defense, who are making communication and calls out there, the processing of that is just that much quicker. And it's a credit to his studying effort."
Udinski continued, "It's all the extra work that he does with coach Mendelson after practice or at the end of the day. Coach Picucci, coach Sarrett, do a great job preparing him, and he puts in a lot of extra work on his own time. I see him in here at the facility. I'll take a stroll downstairs, and it's 10 o'clock at night, and I'm expecting it's the only the cleaning crews around. But it's Emmanuell rolling around through the locker room, just finishing up his recovery work, so I probably don't have enough good things to say about a guy like that."
That's the kind of praise you give to an ascending player, and you haven't heard any of the Jaguars coaches speak about Milum like that in recent weeks.
Wyatt Milum has his work cut out to earn a role with the Jaguars next season
Of course, players' readiness is always variable, and there's a chance Wyatt Milum could bounce back. After all, he flashed during training camp in 2025. His gritty style of play, in particular, turned heads. However, the Jaguars cannot perpetually wait for him.
Working in Milum's favor is that he won't miss time with injury, so he'll tentatively be healthy for the season opener. On the other hand, that means that Emmanuel Pregnon could move ahead of him on the depth chart and start at right guard in case Walker Little isn't back or starts at right tackle in relief of Cole Van Lanen.
Either way, there's no clear path for Wyatt Millum to the starting lineup right now. His best bet right now is to get healthy, put his head down, and hone his craft. If he does, the Jaguars won't hesitate to turn to him if needed next season.
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