The Jacksonville Jaguars know who one of their starting safeties will be, Gerald Alexander.
After that however, it's completely wide open.
Heading into the Jaguars scrimmage, I had Anthony Smith pegged as the Jaguars starter opposite Gerald Alexander. In the week I was at practice, Smith had been the most consistent. The most consistent as in he didn't really make any glaring mistakes or blow any coverages that were noticeable. After the scrimmage on Friday however, I think we have a new leader in the clubhouse.
Good ol' Sean Considine.
"Wide open," was how Jack Del Rio described the final safety position.
I'm very familiar with Sean Considine, as he played at the University of Iowa. Many of you know me know I am an Iowa fan at heart, so I've watched Considine quite a bit and have followed him in the NFL as I do with most Hawkeyes. Heading up to the scrimmage, like most of the other safeties opposite Alexander, Considine had been having a real "ho-hum" week. He didn't really stand out, good or bad. In the scrimmage however, Considine showed up in a big way and may have catapulted himself into the starting line up going into Friday against his old team, the Philadelphia Eagles.
In the span of five plays, Sean Considine managed an interception for a touchdown, a pass break up, and a mid-air fumble recovery for another touchdown. "He’s had a good camp. He’s a guy that we’ve come to depend on. We think he’s a very valuable player for our football team and he did a nice job tonight for sure," said head coach Jack Del Rio following Friday night's scrimmage.
As I said, when I did my season preview for SBNation I had Anthony Smith as the starting safety opposite Gerald Alexander, but I would not be surprised to see Sean Considine take that spot. He's a smart player who plays hard, but lacks overall athleticism. He should be on the team regardless, but he is in the prime-years of his career. Maybe it will all come together for him.
Quote to Note
"I think every player tries to do that [treat the scrimmage like more than just practice], you want to be known as that guy. But tonight was just one of those nights where a few plays went my way, I’ll take it. But right now I’m just fighting for a starting spot on this team, I want to make it a tough decision for these coaches. Really what you do, is put a lot of respect and trust in Coach Del Rio. He’s been around a lot of winning football teams and we all have trust that he’s going to put the best players on the field. Hopefully that’s me, but if it isn’t I can accept it and try to find other ways to win too."
-Sean Considine, on his performance in the scrimmage.