Doug Marrone anxious to see Taven Bryan in pads

There hasn’t been much talk about the Jacksonville Jaguars first round draft pick, which is a bit odd compared to previous seasons. In previous years, the Jaguars first round pick has been expected to be an immediate starter and impact player, one necessary to the team to have success. It’s the complete opposite with defensive lineman Taven Bryan this year, as it’s unlikely he’s going to unseat any of the incumbent starters because everyone in front of him is so absurdly good.

Bryan’s biggest impact is going to be harnessing his athleticism as a package/back up player. He’s already impressed with his movement for his size without pads on, but Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone is anxious to see what he can do with pads on.

“Well, I haven’t seen him in pads yet. I think that when I say progress, he has done a nice job to date,” Marrone said on Thursday when asked about the progress Bryan has made. “But again, I have not seen him in pads. We will see how it goes when we go out there. I want to see what they do when they go out there because obviously that is a baseline to see what they can do really when the pads come on in a couple of days. I will be able to see that baseline and then see where he progresses from there.”

The Jaguars will be tossing on their pads for Saturday’s practice, I believe, so it won’t be long before we see what Bryan looks like with the pads on. As mentioned, Bryan brings a lot of athleticism to the defensive line, often relying on that during his time at the University of Florida. He would beat interior lineman with his quickness and disrupt in the backfield. While that can work in the NFL, NFL offensive lineman will quickly figure out that’s your one tool in the box and shut it down.

Not only will Bryan need to work on his technique and couple that with his athleticism, it will be interesting to see just how much he lines up where on the defensive line. The Jaguars have been using him as a strong side end, but it’s possible they also utilize his quickness on the interior as a pass rusher.