Due to the team’s lack of success over the last couple of years, a lot of the Jacksonville Jaguars’ recent draft additions have been highly scrutinized. None of Dave Caldwell’s picks on the roster currently may be as scrutinized as 2018 first-round pick Taven Bryan, who hasn’t met expectations in the early stages of his career.
Since being drafted, Bryan has only registered nine starts, 53 tackles, and three sacks, which are figures that won’t appeal to fans when considering the team passed on Lamar Jackson, who came off the board three picks later. That said, with Caldwell and coach Doug Marrone being on the hot seat, 2020 is going to be a big year for Bryan and one that will determine whether or not the team picks up his fifth-year option in 2021.
Some believe he’ll rise to the occasion this upcoming season due to being an extremely raw prospect in the draft. Others feel he won’t improve all that much, which would mark another first-round selection that could’ve been used elsewhere. Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine believes the former may be what fans witness as he listed Bryant amongst his list of players who will shed their label of being a bust after having a better season than the stats showed.
First, there was a step up in improvement for Bryan in 2019. He started eight games, posted the eighth-highest run grade among interior defenders in November, per Pro Football Focus, and finished the season with a respectable 75.6 overall grade. That’s all while taking a much bigger role than he had in his rookie season. He went from playing 29 percent of the defensive snaps in 2018 to 46 percent in 2019.
I agree with Ballentine as Bryan was a player we caught on to during the first quarter of the season and a few games beyond. He especially made his presence known in the backfield during Weeks 4 through 6, which involved two playoff opponents in the Tennessee Titans and New Orleans Saints.
Bryan also finished the season on a high note flashing against All-Pro guard Quenton Nelson and the Indianapolis Colts. When adding in the fact that the Jags will be moving to more 3-4 looks, Bryan could be right at home in 2020 being that the Florida Gators utilized it during his time in Gainesville.