Playing for the same franchise his father played for isn’t the only reason that Cassius Marsh is excited to play for the Jacksonville Jaguars as he’ll get to also join an old college teammate. That player is linebacker Myles Jack, who not only played with Marsh on defense while at UCLA but played with him on offense, too.
“I don’t see us moving to the other side of the ball,” Marsh said this week while laughing. “I think there is plenty of talent over there and they will manage without us. My time with Myles [Jack] [at UCLA] was great. He was a super humble young guy who came in and contributed in a huge way playing on both sides of the ball. I loved his work ethic, his athleticism, and his versatility.”
While with the Bruins, Jack played running back early in his college career while Marsh played tight end. Of course, both ended up settling in on defense but Marsh does remember the process on offense being exciting.
“It was really cool because when he came in, he was kind of the reason we created that defense package on offense,” Marsh added. “He was the running back, I played tight end along with another defensive end and then we would have defensive tackles play football. For the most part, we would just pound the ball to Myles and he would go nuts. I had a couple touchdowns, that was cool.”
It’s been since 2013 that the two have last seen the field together and clearly Marsh couldn’t be happier about the situation. The reason for that is not just because they will not only be playing on the same side of the ball together, but they will also be playing within the same position group.
“I’ll be playing the SAM [linebacker position] and I’m going to work my hardest to compete and hopefully earn a starting job at the SAM position and bring my best every day,” Marsh said of his role as the Jags will be moving to more 3-4 looks. “I think it is a great opportunity and it is a great defense. I am looking forward to the challenge.”
That challenge will undoubtedly involve first-round pick K’Lavon Chaisson, who is expected to play SAM linebacker, too. Some had already crowned the rookie as a starter, however, it’s clear Marsh isn’t going to make it easy as he’ll have plenty of experience to rely on heading into his seventh season.
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