Jacksonville Jaguars top pick Travon Walker, rookies will be focal point of 3-day minicamp
Jacksonville Jaguars defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell said they have done their research on No. 1 overall pick Travon Walker and believe working him at outside linebacker is the best fit.
"I think his best position is outside linebacker because of his length, his athletic ability going against tackles," Caldwell said. "That is a premium position in this defense. He can play other positions, but his home for us is outside linebacker, where we see him being a force. We are going to try to mold him and let him take off and go."
Caldwell said Walker's skillset they want to bring out the most is getting after the quarterback. Caldwell described Walker as a rare talent, unique because of his combination of size, strength and speed.
"You think about the size — his height, his weight, his speed — it's like a unicorn," Caldwell said. "He is unique. He plays that way and you see it on tape. You see the burst, you see the speed, you see the moves he has. We are excited about him, and I think he will be ready to roll."
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While vacation has started early for the Jacksonville Jaguars veterans, it will be a typical week for the rookies beginning Monday with the three-day minicamp.
Impressed with the togetherness and the work of the veterans, coach Doug Pederson excused the veterans from having to attend the mandatory minicamp. But Pederson and his assistants plan to provide more one-on-one work with the rookies like Walker and first-round linebacker Devin Lloyd.
The Jaguars' injured players will be undergoing rehab, and there will be a few selected veterans among the group whom the coaching staff has identified as needing more work to get to the level they need before next month's training camp begins.
Did Pederson make right call giving veterans off?
One of the debates already raging is whether Pederson did the right thing by giving the veteran players a break from not having to report to the three-day minicamp that starts Monday.
Pederson didn't cancel the minicamp altogether with the rookies, selected veterans and injured players scheduled to report.
But for a team that went 3-14 last season and 1-15 in 2020, adjusting to a new coaching staff and new systems on both sides of the ball, did Pederson squander an opportunity to get his team more prepared by giving his veterans an early summer vacation?
"It's all based on what they've done," Pederson said. "I've kind of done this thing in the past, but at the same time, I wanted to see this group work and work together. Again, these guys worked extremely hard. They've earned it. They deserve it. We got down as a staff what we needed to get done, and we're getting ready for camp."
Pederson agreed that part of his decision to give the veterans off was based on gaining trust with the team, and the healing process continues from the turbulent 2021 season under former coach Urban Meyer.
"I think it goes hand-in-hand," Pederson said. "It's one of the key message points [I made] back April 11th when I started with this group. We talked about the healing process and trust, and I've seen this team grow and come together."
Lawrence took advantage of OTAs to get acclimated to new system
Pederson wouldn't say if quarterback Trevor Lawrence will participate in the three-day minicamp, but it's unlikely. Both Pederson and offensive coordinator Press Taylor said they are ahead of schedule in implementing the offensive system and getting Lawrence acclimated.
"We got a lot put in, a lot installed," Taylor said. "We got a chance to teach really the foundation of what we want to do as an offense and then teach a lot of technique. We’re asking guys to do things a certain way. Whether they’ve done that [technique with other teams], whether they haven’t, we don’t know. But here’s how we envision it being done, here's what we’d like, go out, do it, now let’s talk about it, let’s coach it. So, I think from that standpoint, we got a lot done and we were able to kind of sell that vision to the guys of what we want it to look like."
Lawrence raved last week about how smoothly the adjustment had gone in the offseason from learning the system to adjusting to the new staff.
"It’s been really smooth. Like I said, being able to install it three times really helps you each time understand it more and more and pick up on little things and just execute it better all the way around, so that’s helped a lot," Lawrence said.
"By the time training camp comes, obviously we’re going to back and review stuff, but then we can really hit the ground running and have everything in and script practices a certain way where we have all of our ammo instead of just install by install. We can kind of have the whole playbook."
If Lawrence does not attend Monday's minicamp, the quarterback reps will be split between Jake Luton and undrafted rookie EJ Perry. Backup quarterback C.J. Beathard injured his groin last week and is rehabbing from the injury but is expected to be ready for training camp.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Travon Walker, rookies top priority for Jaguars during 3-day minicamp
