The Jaguars have invited 27 players on a workout basis to this weekends rookie mini-camp. The 27 will join the Jaguars six draft picks as they complete their first activities in Jaguars uniforms. The 27 includes several local players such as Jacksonville University quarterback Josh McGregor and players from significantly further away such as Chinese Kicker Long Ding.
You can see the full list of players on the official Jaguars website by clicking here.
Pendleton Playing at Joliet Junior College
Jaguars GM Gene Smith notoriously says that he scouts the player, not the school and he stuck true to that with his final pick in the draft. The Jaguars selected Ashland University DT Jeris Pendleton with their seventh round pick.
Pendleton is an intriguing late round selection by the Jaguars, a high school standout, who committed to Michigan State, but did not attend to to family issues, was out of football for six years before walking on at Joliet Junior College, following which he earned a scholarship to Ashland University in Ohio, and was drafted by the Jaguars at 28 years old.
In 2011, Pendleton had 49 tackles, 8.5 tackles for a loss and 5 sacks. By his own admission he is a run stuffer, “I believe I can hold down the run,” Pendleton said. “I believe I can hold my ground in there at tackle. I won’t be getting pushed around. That’s my strength right there, being solid against the run.”
The Jaguars expect that Pendleton has the physical talent to be able to contribute in the rotation right away. “When you look at guys form smaller colleges, you look for guys with rare genetics who show dominant traits,” GM Gene Smith said, “Certainly, they’re the type of people who have Jaguars traits – they’re going to work to improve. Jeris has all of those things.”
Pendleton also seems up for the task of being in the Jaguars rotation. “The (Jaguars front office) told me I’ve got a chance to be in their rotation,” Pendleton said. “They expect me to challenge for some serious playing time. One of their defensive tackles (Tyson Alualu) had knee surgery and another (Terrance Knighton) had eye surgery.”
New Jaguars CB Mike Harris at FSU
The Jaguars drafted Florida State cornerback Mike Harris in the 6th round of the NFL Draft.
Harris, a transfer from El Camino community college in California, primarily played nickel cornerback at FSU. After transfering from El Camino, Harris played for the Seminoles for two seasons, playing extensively at the nickel. He finished 2nd on the team in tackles last year with 58, and finishes his collegiate career with the Seminoles with 102 tackles and five interceptions in two seasons.
“He likes contact,” said Head Coach Mike Mularkey,”in our defense our corners have to tackle, and they have to tackle physically. He’s one of those guys.”
Harris also has a strong background as a special teamer at Flordia State, which will be essential for him if he is going to find a spot with the Jaguars.
“A lot of his production has been as a special teams player, so we like that part of it,” Mularkey said, “if he can’t come here and start right away, we know he has a chance to be part of our game day roster and he can be one of our special teams core players, if he comes in here with the right mentality.”
The Jaguars have signed a total of 17 undrafted free agents following last weekends draft. This is not unexpected as the Jaguars intent to run a purely rookie mini camp in the coming weeks. Jaguars GM Gene Smith always does a lot of scouting at small schools and that is apparent in this list of signings. The Jaguars will probably bring more players in on a try out basis for the upcoming mini camp.
The complete list of players is as follows;
LSU DE Kendrick Adams
UTEP RB Joe Banyard
Northern Colorado TLee Barbiasz
UTEP CB Antwon Blake
Virginia Tech WR Jarrett Boykin
Ohio State C Mike Brewster
Bethune-Cookman DE Ryan Davis
Langston CB Antonio Dennard
Florida A&M WR Kevin Elliott
Texas State G D.J. Hall
Murray State CB Dontrel Johnson
Western Michigan DT Drew Nowak
UCLA WR Nelson Rosario
Cincinnati LB J.K. Schaffer
Wagner LB Julian Stanford
Memphis DE Frank Trotter
North Dakota TE Matt Veldman
Jaguars 5th Round Selection LB Brandon Marshall
The Jaguars traded their fourth round draft pick to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in order to trade up in the first round, to grab wide receiver Justin Blackmon. With their pick in the fifth round they selected Nevada linebacker Brandon Marshall.
ESPN’s Todd Mcshay’s scouting report on Marshall is that he has active hands and plays hard on every snap, but he can get involved by offensive linemen.
Marshall is in an interesting position at Jacksonville and if he can prove his worth on special teams he could become a contributor right away. The Jaguars will carry six linebackers and they currently have five Paul Posluszny, Daryl Smith, Clint Session, Russell Allen and Kyle Bosworth, which makes Marshall number 6.
Marshall had 259 tackles, seven fumble returns and three interceptions in 52 career games at Nevada.
New Jaguars Punter Brian Anger
In the third round the Jaguars made perhaps the draft’s biggest surprise when they drafted Cal punter Brian Anger.
Anger averaged more than 44 yards a punt, and had at least one punt of 50 yards or more in 11 games last season for Cal.
This pick by the Jaguars surprised many, as at the time there were still some very legitimate prospects at positions of need for the Jaguars; prospects that would see the field more than a punter. However, the Jaguars know the value of a good punter. In 2011 the Jaguars could attribute two losses to bad punting, and if Anger can give the Jaguars those two wins back in 2012 he will have been worth the high 3rd round price the Jaguars paid for him. Jaguars GM Gene Smith said “[Anger] clearly will make an impact on our football team.”
If Anger pans out he could be the Jaguars punter for the next ten years, and on a team with a top tier defense, and a developing offense, winning the battle of field position is essential.
After drafting Anger the Jaguars released current punters Nick Harris and Spencer Lanning. Harris signed mid way through last season recently signed a new deal with the Jaguars. “The plan is to work Bryan, but we will let [Lanning and Harris] go to . . . give them a chance to get picked up somewhere because teams will be looking pretty hard there,” coach Mike Mularkey said.
Anger was the first punter drafted in the first 100 picks since 1995.
Taylor Allen, FB/TE, Endicott
Michael Brewster, C, Ohio State
Ryan Davis, DE/OLB, Bethune Cookman
Jerrell Harris, S, South Florida
Phelon Jones, LB, Alabama
Andrew Lanier, OT, Virginia Tech
Drew Nowak, DT, Western Michigan
Erik Rask, LB, Penn State (camp invite)
J.K. Schaffer, LB, Cincinnati
Matt Veldman, TE, North Dakota State
Jerrell Young, S, Central Florida
New Jaguars DE Andre Branch
In the second round of the draft, 38th overall, the Jaguars drafted Clemson defensive end Andre Branch.
Branch is the final piece to the puzzle on defense for the Jaguars. After resigning defensive end Jeremy Mincey in free agency all the Jaguars needed to put the finishing touches on their defense was a pass rusher to play opposite Mincey.
Branch (6-feet-4, 259-lbs) is a tall athletic defensive end that excels in pass rushing. There has been some doubt as to weather Branch can be effective as a defensive end because he sometimes struggles against the run, which has prompted some scouts to believe he may be better as a 3-4 outside linebacker. However, the Jaguars will use him as a defensive end in their 4-3 system.
Jaguars director of personnel Terry McDonough said the Jaguars saw Branch only as a 4-3 defensive end. “This is a different body style (than a 3-4 backer), so we didn’t worry about the 3-4 teams in front of us,” McDonough said. “We looked at him strictly as a 4-3 end.”
Branch finished the 2011 season with Clemson with 77 tackles and 9.5 sacks.
May 2nd, 2012 
Andy Green 
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