When the Jacksonville Jaguars selected Andre Cisco last season in the third round, many fans were beyond excited to see him play. Unfortunately, he didn’t get on the field as much as they wanted early, but due to injuries occurring at the safety position, he ended up starting in the last three games of the 2021 season.
In the process, Cisco left fans impressed and even more puzzled as to why he didn’t see the field earlier under the Jags’ last coaching staff. That doesn’t seem to be a problem with the new coaching staff, though, as Doug Pederson seems to already be impressed by the second-year player.
While meeting with the media Tuesday morning, Pederson said he likes what he’s seen out of Cisco in organized team activities, especially when it comes to his communication skills.
“He’s really done a nice job this offseason coming in there,” Pederson said. “He’s a great communicator, just watching him with the defense and how he moves and how he fits. Again, it’s going to be really good for him once we do get the pads on and see his physicality and how he can play. He’s a really good football player for us and I’m excited to watch him during training camp.”
While the pads have yet to go on, this is good to hear and could be a sign that Cisco will return to the starting lineup in 2022.
Cisco won’t only be taking the field for a new head coach this year, but will also be doing so for a new defensive coordinator in Mike Caldwell. That’s something that the second-year safety likely hasn’t complained about when looking at how the safeties were used in Tampa Bay, where Caldwell was before joining the Jags.
Jordan Whitehead and Antoine Winfield Jr. were the starters at safety for the Bucs last season, and most would agree that they were one of the best tandems in football. Now, it appears Cisco (and possibly Rayshawn Jenkins) could be Caldwell’s version of the tandem that his mentor, Todd Bowles, had great success with.
Cisco was viewed as a ball-hawk type player when he was drafted and was able to garner 13 picks in three years with Syracuse. When he was finally inserted into the starting lineup for the Jags, it seems he picked up where he left off and was able to acquire a Pro Football Focus grade of 79.5 or higher in two of those games.
These are things that Caldwell and Pederson likely saw when doing evaluations on the team, and Cisco is giving them reasons early this offseason to make him a starter out of the gate.
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