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To state the obvious -- it's early. But with rookie minicamp underway for the Jacksonville Jaguars, one undrafted rookie seems to have caught Liam Coen's attention.
That would be Virginia running back J'Mari Taylor.
Taylor joins the Jaguars after five college seasons, the first four of which were spent at North Carolina Central before he transferred to Virginia for the 2025 season.
Playing in the ACC, Taylor rushed for 1,064 yards last season, averaging 4.8 yards per attempt with 14 rushing touchdowns.
"I think the word you said, production, when you looked at him against, I guess some of the top backs in the draft, production against the same teams, and what that looked like, I thought that was pretty impressive," Coen said after Saturday's practice.
Contributing to Taylor's success on the ground was that he was quite difficult to bring down, ranking 38th in average yards after contact and tied for 18th in missed tackles forced, per PFF.
To go along with his production in the run game, Taylor was also fairly active in the passing game. His 54 targets last season were tied for the fourth-most among running backs.
"Obviously, the season that Virginia had, and a lot of it had to do with his success and his ability to affect the game both in the run and the pass game as well," Coen added. "So people just bounced off of him in ways. He forced a lot of missed tackles, and he's super sharp."
The top of the Jaguars' running back depth chart seems pretty well established with Bhayshul Tuten, Chris Rodriguez, and LeQuint Allen. However, for a large portion of last season, the Jaguars rostered four running backs on the 53-man. If Coen is willing to do that again, perhaps that could be Taylor's path to earning a roster spot.
This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: Why Jaguars' undrafted rookie RB J'Mari Taylor is on Liam Coen's radar
Continue reading...
That would be Virginia running back J'Mari Taylor.
Taylor joins the Jaguars after five college seasons, the first four of which were spent at North Carolina Central before he transferred to Virginia for the 2025 season.
Playing in the ACC, Taylor rushed for 1,064 yards last season, averaging 4.8 yards per attempt with 14 rushing touchdowns.
"I think the word you said, production, when you looked at him against, I guess some of the top backs in the draft, production against the same teams, and what that looked like, I thought that was pretty impressive," Coen said after Saturday's practice.
Contributing to Taylor's success on the ground was that he was quite difficult to bring down, ranking 38th in average yards after contact and tied for 18th in missed tackles forced, per PFF.
To go along with his production in the run game, Taylor was also fairly active in the passing game. His 54 targets last season were tied for the fourth-most among running backs.
"Obviously, the season that Virginia had, and a lot of it had to do with his success and his ability to affect the game both in the run and the pass game as well," Coen added. "So people just bounced off of him in ways. He forced a lot of missed tackles, and he's super sharp."
The top of the Jaguars' running back depth chart seems pretty well established with Bhayshul Tuten, Chris Rodriguez, and LeQuint Allen. However, for a large portion of last season, the Jaguars rostered four running backs on the 53-man. If Coen is willing to do that again, perhaps that could be Taylor's path to earning a roster spot.
This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: Why Jaguars' undrafted rookie RB J'Mari Taylor is on Liam Coen's radar
Continue reading...
