Out of the seven players the Jacksonville Jaguars took in the 2022 NFL Draft, two of them majored in engineering. Kentucky center Luke Fortner studied aerospace engineering, and Wyoming linebacker Chad Muma majored in mechanical engineering.
Fortner joined XL Primetime on 1010XL on Wednesday to talk about how he juggled football with academics while also discussing how the Jaguars want to use him.
“I probably let a little too much of football slip early in my career and focused a little too much on school,” he said. “So toward the end here, I kind of went back to focusing on football. Now I have my aerospace degree, and I’m OK at football.”
Fortner didn’t start getting much playing time at Kentucky until his sophomore season.
He said later in the interview that general manager Trent Baalke and head coach Doug Pederson wants him to cross-train and be able to play both guard spots and center.
“They just want a guy who can come in and be consistent across the board and play three positions inside there,” Fortner said about what the Jaguars want from him. “Just bring consistency to the offensive line and hopefully help and protect Trevor Lawrence back there.”
It would be quite a luxury for Jacksonville if it could have two offensive linemen in Fortner and Tyler Shatley, who can play at either guard spot or center in 2022. However, as a starter, it feels like Fortner can be the player that Brandon Linder was at center, while also being able to change positions if an injury occurs at another interior position.