Myles Jack rookie year expectations: Best and worst case scenarios

I wrote last week about why I enjoy talking about the draft process when it is the post draft phase as much as I do. Essentially, after months and months of talking about nothing but "what if?" possibilities the clarity of the post draft is refreshing.

And there is no player in the entire draft that needed that refreshing clarity more than Myles Jack.

From the day he declared for the draft until the day he was ultimately selected by the Jaguars in the second round, the pre-draft perceptions around Myles Jack had even less clarity or nuance than the rest of his fellow prospects.

"He won't play for more than five years."

"His knee is a ticking time bomb."

Yadda, yadda, yadda...

Fortunately, Jack is finally a member of the Jaguars and the questions of how serious his knee injuries are have slowed down. The knee that people claimed was a ticking time bomb has looked fine on the practice field for the Jaguars so far. So with the clarity of Myles Jack's landing spot finally clear, what are the best, worst, and most realistic cases for his rookie season?

Worst case scenario

The absolute worst case scenario for Myles Jack would be for him to miss time to injury. But that can be said for really every player.

An alternative worst case scenario to consider would be if Jack struggles in his early transition to the NFL. Even though the team has been hesitant to describe the extent of the role they envision for Jack up to this point, the Jaguars desperately need his speed on the field.

If for any reason, Jack makes them hesitant to put him on the field, then both the team and Jack will look at it as the worst case scenario.

Best case scenario

The best case scenario for Jack's rookie season is the opposite of his worst case scenario.

Funny how that works.

The best thing for both Jack and the team in Jack's rookie season would be for Jack to display so much NFL readiness and an ability to adapt to the scheme that the team has no choice but to put him on the field.

Not only would it be extremely encouraging for Jack to translate to the NFL so quickly, but the team could get their biggest boost of athleticism in their linebacking corps in years.

Realistic expectations

The most realistic case for Jack's rookie season is somewhere in the middle of the worst and best case scenarios.

Funny how that works again.

Personally, if Jack can have a rookie season like Telvin Smith had in 2014, it should be considered a success.

In Telvin's rookie season, the team was slow to hand him a big role. It really took until the middle of the season for him to see meaningful playing time. Once Telvin saw the field, he had an adjustment period... like we should expect Jack to have.

But he also brought a dynamic of playmaking and athleticism that the team was missing badly. He changed the defense as much as one linebacker can. Like we should eventually expect Jack to do.

If Jack can post a similar stat line to Telvin's from 2014 -- 72 total tackles, two sacks, and at least one interception -- then it should leave a lot of people happy.