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Jaguars fans — which early offseason standout are you most excited about?
Parker Washington and Montaric “Buster” Brown are recent examples of how offseason program performances can carry over into the regular season. This year, wide receiver CJ Williams, linebacker Branson Combs,
and defensive back Jabbar Muhammad are among the young Jaguars making plays during spring practices at the Miller Electric Center.
Head coach Liam Coen was asked about the trio on Tuesday.
“Branson’s a guy obviously that we had a lot of like for last year. He was close to getting claimed. We ended up putting him on the active roster and he may win the Iron Jag of the Year at this pace. I know he is leading the group right now, leading the team in the individual award. He just lowkey is pretty athletic. He’s explosive. He can do multiple different things in terms of coverage abilities, whether it’s in man or zone. I like him in coverage. I think he’s done a nice job with Foye [Oluokun] not getting as many reps in some of the team settings with he and Jack [Kiser] having to get more of those. So, being able to communicate at a high level is what he’s needed, those reps.
“Jabbar, he’s made a ton of plays out here. You could argue for a most improved for Jabbar really over the last year. A guy that really spent the majority of the time last year on practice squad and giving show team reps. He’s made so many plays out here. I think we’re excited about what he’s able to do.
“CJ Williams is just, I think he leads the team in receptions right now. Now he’s getting a lot of reps mixing in with a couple different groups, but you talk about what’s the job for a receiver is to get open and catch the ball and he just kind of does that. It’s not necessarily flashy or some big splash move or play. I think the quarterbacks trust him. He’s smart, knows his job and it was nice to see Josh Cameron make a couple plays today as well, which was our first real action seeing him.”
From my angle along the sidelines, Muhammad has been the most impressive player (relative to expectations) at OTAs/minicamp so far.
“He just always seems to be near the action right now,” said defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile. “He’s really been super detailed with his technique. I think that’s one of the things that shows up. Very deliberate in the way that he’s practicing, and I think that’s created some takeaways for him and making some plays on the ball.”
“You see what he’s done defensively. We’ve seen the same improvements,” said special teams coordinator Heath Farwell. “I’m excited to see training camp. That’s the real test for all these guys is what does training camp look like when you get real competitive reps, and then those training camp practices against other teams, and then preseason games. He is one of the guys that I’m excited to see what he can do and showcase what he can do.”
As both coaches alluded to, part of Muhammad’s playmaking stems from the nature of these padless practices and the competition he’s facing. (Some of the throws we’ve seen from QBs not wearing No. 16 have been startlingly bad.) But anyone who’s actually watched Muhammad fly around knows the Jags might have a gem on their hands.
Jaguars fans, let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
