Michigan Lineman Jalen Mayfield On Jaguars' Possibility: "It'd Be An Honor."
Jalen Mayfield was asked about three teams in a row during his Pro Day on Wednesday of this week. The Michigan Wolverines offensive lineman has appeared as a potential first rounder in some mock drafts, including the latest from NFL Network expert Daniel Jeremiah.
Jeremiah has mocked Mayfield to the Pittsburgh Steelers, the first team he was asked about during his Pro Day, but his answer was short and sweet.
“Any contact with the Steelers?”
“Yes.”
The next question pushed Mayfield on whether or not he’d had contact with the Los Angeles Chargers during pre-draft meetings.
“No.”
But next, Jaguar Report was able to ask Mayfield if he’d spoken any with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
“I have talked to the Jaguars…just you know, getting to know me and just really talking football.”
As they talked, the Jaguars learned of a prospect who comes to the draft most recently as a right tackle but one who has played all along the line.
“I'm able to play any of the five positions up front…will play center, guard, tackle, and I'm pretty comfortable playing the left. My freshman year I played left tackle. And then the last two years I played right tackle so I'm really comfortable with both sides. I think, you know, the more versatile you are the, you know, better chance you have a lasting longer and NFL.
“I see myself fitting pretty well at tackle. I feel like I'm really athletic; I'm able now to move laterally and get a lot of blocks done, that are asked me and I feel like that, you know my versatility will really show up [at Pro Day], they're going to be able to see me, you know, move around and, you know, try different things out so I think everybody would be kind of surprised over time.”
The Jaguars have spent much of the offseason thus far solidifying their offense line with pieces already in the building. The club placed the franchise tag on left tackle Cam Robinson, re-signed sixth-year lineman Tyler Shatley and reworked the contract for veteran Andrew Norwell.
Robinson was arguably the biggest signing of all. The Jaguars own the No. 1 overall pick for next month’s 2021 NFL Draft and all signs indicate they will use it on Clemson Tigers quarterback Trevor Lawrence. A generational talent with the likelihood to become a franchise quarterback, Lawrence could easily be a day-one starter. If that’s the case, even with enormous skill and talent, the rookie will need extra protection as he adjust to the league.
For that matter, building a wall around the future of your franchise isn’t something the coaching staff would want to turn over to another rookie at any position. So if Mayfield landed in Jacksonville, he would presumably be a back-up depth player, someone who can learn behind an experienced veteran and take his time adjusting to the game.
Mayfield will need some time to adjust. While he has all of the talent and ceiling to make him an early pick, he has less than 20 starts to his name. Some of that is due to a high-ankle sprain derailing his season after two games last fall.
Jeremiah calls Mayfield a future starting right tackle in the league and has Mayfield ranked as the 3rd best tackle prospect in the upcoming draft.
As the Jaguars look to build a new future, a versatile and talented lineman could make a difference. And for one of the better options in that category in this draft, the Jaguars are an intriguing option as well.
“I really have all my utmost respect for [Jaguars’ head coach] Urban Meyer, you know, the stuff he was doing at Ohio State, it was really fantastic for him and I have no doubt in my mind that [the Jaguars will] be able to be an upcoming team throughout the years and he's a great coach and they're gonna have some great players over the next couple of years.
“So if I am taken there, it’d be an honor.”
