Jaguars got what they needed drafting Devin Lloyd, a linebacker who can contribute immediately

Devin Lloyd is instinctive, rugged and strong. He can blast through the middle on a blitz to disrupt quarterbacks.

He can drop back in coverage and pluck the ball away from a tight end or running back.

He studies tape, rarely makes the same mistake twice on the field and was a first-team All-American last season for the Utah Utes.

At 6-foot-3 and 236 pounds, Lloyd appears to be cut for the physical, run-heavy matchups this fall when the Jacksonville Jaguars face the Titans and Derrick Henry and the Colts with their featured back, Jonathan Taylor.

That's why Jaguars coach Doug Pederson and general manager Trent Baalke decided to trade back into the first round in last week's NFL Draft. They sent the Tampa Bay Buccaneers their picks Nos. 33, 106, and 180 to draft Lloyd 27th overall.

They got themselves a three-down linebacker who is ready to start immediately. Lloyd is compared to linebacker Micah Parsons, who made a big enough impact in his first season with the Dallas Cowboys to win the 2021 Rookie of the Year award and earned a Pro Bowl selection.

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Character praised

"Obviously, with Devin, his athleticism, the size you can see it, the speed, everything that we felt strongly [about]," Pederson said. "Not only is he a good football player, but again, he's a high-character individual, and that's all part of this process that we look at when we dive into these players, and the stuff he does away from football is pretty remarkable."

Lloyd, a captain, helped unite a Utes team through the grief of two players' deaths.

Utah Running back Ty Jordan died from a self-inflicted accidental gunshot wound in December 2020. Nine months after Jordan's death, sophomore cornerback Aaron Lowe died during a shooting at a house party last season.

"My role for me was to just step up and be the best leader I can be, really just bring everybody together," Lloyd said. "Whenever we're on the field or whenever we're doing anything football-related, it's got to be the focus. And whenever we're off the field, and we're not doing anything football, we have to be together, we have to be there for one another."

Lloyd said every teammate locked in a little more, and it was his job to ensure they locked in and kept the focus on the task at hand.

After a 1-2 start, the Utes were locked in enough to win nine of their next 10 games, including routing Oregon 38-10 in the Pac-12 Championship game to earn a trip to Pasadena to play Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. The Utes lost a heartbreaker, 48-45, with Lloyd finishing with four tackles.

Throughout last season, Lloyd was nothing less than impressive. There was a play he made against Weber State in the season opener in which a pass was deflected, and Lloyd came up with the ball after a diving grab for an interception.

Against Oregon, Lloyd dropped back in coverage and read a screen pass attempt perfectly, stepping in front of the running back for an interception that he returned 34 yards for a touchdown.

Perhaps, Lloyd's best play of the season came against Stanford last November on a third-and-9 play from the 4. Lloyd looked to be coming in on a blitz and got blocked by a lineman, but he was instinctive enough to jump with his arms up for the interception before taking two steps into the end zone for the touchdown.

"I always dreamed of playing in the NFL," Lloyd said. "That's why you play football; that's what you dream of."

There are numerous highlights of Lloyd blasting through blocks, appearing to be relentless in pursuit to bring down running backs and scrambling quarterbacks.

He led the Utes in tackles for three consecutive seasons, finishing his career with 43 tackles for loss — including 22 last season with seven sacks.

"That's who he is, he is a big-play guy," Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said.

Linebacker was a need position entering draft

The Jaguars entered the draft with linebacker as one of their positions of need. However, Jacksonville not only drafted Lloyd but also selected Wyoming middle linebacker Chad Muma with the No. 70 pick in the second round.

"One thing I define myself as is a football player, so it doesn’t really matter where you put me, I’m going to go out, I’m going to be competitive and I’m going to have success," Lloyd said. "I pride myself on being able to play anything that you could ask a linebacker to play, coming off the edge, rushing the passer, man coverage, zone coverage, playing the run, whatever you could ask a linebacker to do.

"I pride myself on being able to do that at a high level and I prepared to be able to have success all over the field, so I’m watching film for pass rusher, I’m watching film for safeties. You have to be able to do it all, so, like I said, I’m excited for whatever I’m asked to do."

The plan going forward for the Jaguars is operating from multiple sets and packages in which both Lloyd and Muma can be best utilized with linebacker Foye Oluokun, who was signed in free agency after leading the NFL in tackles last season (196) with the Atlanta Falcons. The Jaguars also used their No. 1 overall pick to select Georgia's Trevon Walker, who could play both defensive end and outside linebacker.

After having just 32 sacks last season, the Jaguars targeted fixing their defense as a priority. Five of their seven draft picks were defensive players.

"I know [Defensive Coordinator] Mike [Caldwell] and the staff become very creative with scheme from time to time, but you have to do that," Pederson said. "You have to do that each week and having guys like Devin that are versatile that way can help that process.

"Devin is just going to be a great addition to not only the linebacker room but I think to our team and to Jacksonville. I talk a lot about how we handle our business off the football field as well with our guys and this is obviously no exception."

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars got what they needed drafting LB Devin Lloyd No. 27 overall