There's a whole lot of romance engulfing the Jacksonville Jaguars franchise right now. With Gus Bradley at head coach and the already-begun process of overhauling the talent on the roster, the Jaguars have every reason to be excited. Romance is the key word at one spot in particular. Like the plot of every single romance film every written, the Jaguars have seemingly spent the offseason looking for starting wide receivers, only for one to unexpectedly fall into their laps.
Allen Hurns wasn't a talked about name during the draft. The 22-year-old, former Miami prospect went undrafted without any fanfare.
While Hurns was sitting at home falling in the draft, the Jaguars invested two draft picks in other receivers. Marqise Lee out of USC became their first pick in the second round. Lee was considered a first rounder by many draft analysts, but his time in college was marred by injuries and some inconsistency. He still became the 39th overall pick of the draft. Soon after Lee went off the board, Allen Robinson was selected by the Jaguars with the 61st overall pick. Robinson was a young prospect who impressed at the catch point.
Lee and Robinson complemented each other well and appeared certain to become the team's starters alongside established veteran Cecil Shorts.
Once camp began, Shorts and Robinson missed time through injury. Second-year player Ace Sanders was absent because of an impending suspension and personal issue. Hurns gained more time on the field to earn a bigger role on offense and he did so by outperforming Mike Brown, Kerry Taylor and Tandon Doss. Those weren't exactly tall pillars to climb over, but for an undrafted rookie in his first training camp, Hurns had to earn everything he got. In the first week of the preseason, he had two receptions for 43 yards. In the second, he had four receptions for 74 yards.
In the most important of the preseason games, the third one, Hurns started and played through three quarters. He compiled seven receptions for 113 yards and a touchdown against an admittedly underwhelming Detroit Lions secondary.
For his first reception, Hurns runs a curl route against press coverage. He doesn't get any separation against the defensive back, but he is able to make a catch against tight coverage on a good pass from Chad Henne. Hurns followed his first reception up with a curl underneath against off coverage from the slot in the second quarter.
On a Third-and-17 play, Hurns was given an easy 18-yard reception when the Lions defense played off coverage and failed to make an effective tackle. That was the final play he made with Henne on the field, once Bortles came in, Hurns excelled.
Hurns carries a stocky, relatively tall frame. His long arms and balanced bulk is reminiscent of Dez Bryant's. While he may not be the caliber of player that Bryant is, he carries a similar style because he can win in so many different ways. On this play he shows off his ability to get open down the field before using his hands to make a tough catch on a Bortles pass that leads him too far towards the sideline.
Not only does Hurns catch this comfortably away from his body, he maintains his awareness of the sideline to keep both feet in bounds.
A few plays after this, Hurns stayed alive in his route when Bortles extended the play in the pocket. He found space over the middle of the field before adjusting to a low pass from his quarterback for a first down reception. Hurns' catch set up a field goal attempt for the offense before the end of the second quarter.
After halftime, Hurns had a drop on a high pass from Blake Bortles. It wasn't a good throw, so the degree of the drop wasn't alarming. A few plays later he made up for it with another big play down the seam. Hurns' ability to get free and comfortably make these types of plays is very impressive. While we always have to be wary of rookie receivers, especially receivers who went undrafted before landing on a subpar offense, his play to this point suggests that he can be a productive starter in the NFL immediately.
He didn't beat out star caliber competition for his place on the team and he didn't beat top talent at the defensive back position on the field, but Hurns' skill set suggests that he can be the next undrafted player to become a big overachiever in the NFL.
Jerrick McKinnon
When the Minnesota Vikings allowed Toby Gerhart to become a free agent after last season, there was very little chance of him returning. In a run-heavy offense that is built around the ability of the best runner in the NFL, Adrian Peterson, the opportunities aren't always there for the backup to be a worthwhile contributor. In spite of that, the Vikings invested a third round pick in Gerhart's replacement.
Jerrick McKinnon is not similar to Toby Gerhart. Gerhart is a big, bruising back who shared more traits with Peterson than he does McKinnon. Instead, McKinnon is a more elusive, diminutive runner who relies on his agility and vision to create yardage.
McKinnon is a true change of pace back in terms of style. In Norv Turner's offense, McKinnon likely won't get enough touches to be relevant as a fantasy back, but he should be considered a potential value pick in dynasty setups. Despite being a smaller player, McKinnon runs hard and doesn't expose himself to too much punishment.
Against the Kansas City Chiefs first team defense in Week 3 of the preseason, McKinnon showed off his lateral agility. On this play, despite catching the ball in a disadvantageous position, McKinnon maintains his composure and quickly shuffle past Tamba Hali in space. Hali is a linebacker, not a defensive back, so he would have expected to beat him, but McKinnon also had to sustain his balance against Hali's outstretched arm that hit him.
His elusiveness resulted in very little yardage on this play, but that production would come.
On this play, McKinnon shows off acceleration and vision in the open field to gain more than 20 yards. At the end of the run, he doesn't risk taking a big hit by covering the ball up and crouching between two defenders. Crucially, McKinnon set up his outside run with good discipline early on. By initially attacking the interior of his offensive line, he didn't forced the edge defender to hesitate rather than crash down on the outside.
This is a minor movement that plays an important role in setting up big plays.
McKinnon looked like a natural runner against the Chiefs. He was consistent with his vision, discipline, burst and patience when working with the ball in his hands. For slighter, speed backs this can be a problem early in their careers. One game doesn't prove anything over the long-term, but McKinnon's start has proven to be very positive.
Because Adrian Peterson isn't a great receiver and because Matt Asiata isn't an adequate back, McKinnon's quickest route to the field early in his career will be as a third down back. He made a couple of receptions against the Chiefs and looked comfortable doing so.
Other Notes From Week 3
Teddy Bridgewater has lost the Minnesota Vikings' quarterback competition to Matt Cassel. Cassel was always the favorite from the start so Bridgewater needed to play phenomenally well from the start to win the top spot. Even though Cassel is the starter, his display against the Kansas City Chiefs suggested that Bridgewater will take over sooner rather than later. Bridgewater is pro-ready and Cassel struggled after a hot start.
Blake Bortles is another rookie quarterback who won't be starting in Week 1. Bortles is a much better starter than Chad Henne, but he also struggled somewhat in Week 3. We know very little about Bortles at this stage. He has shown that he has the talent to be effective in the NFL, but expecting that during his rookie season for fantasy purposes would be foolish.
Sticking with the Jaguars, Toby Gerhart was impressive behind an unimpressive offensive line against the Detroit Lions. Gerhart is a very talented player who only needs to stay healthy to be a productive back. His ceiling is limited by the interior of the offensive line in front of him, but there aren't many backs with the skill set and opportunity to feature on all three downs this year.
The Chicago Bears defense was made to look very poor against the Seattle Seahawks, but they were consistently getting pressure on Russell Wilson. Wilson was simply playing at a level that made him close to unstoppable. As the Seahawks offene continues to grow, Wilson should carry more and more of it. Before the fourth quarter of games last season, they ran a balanced offense, running the ball more in the fourth because they were often playing with a lead. If Wilson's play to this point says anything, it says that he will be a very productive starter moving forward.
Don't fear the Pittsburgh Steelers' run defense. Despite what history will make you feel, the Steelers' current run defense is built to fail. They have sacrificed size for speed upfront and the Philadelphia Eagles highligted this in Week 3. Very few teams can stop the Eagles first team offense, but the Steelers couldn't even stop the second team offense with their first team defense.
Kelvin Benjamin was impressive against the New England Patriots. He lined up in different spots, caught the ball in different areas and beat different coverages in different ways. However, Benjamin was the only bright spot for the Panthers. While the receiving corps was expected to be underwhelming and Cam Newton's injury is much publicized, the offensive line as a whole was decimated by the Patriots' front.
Emmanuel Sanders had his first impactful game for the Denver Broncos in Week 3 of the preseason. Sanders has an abundance of physical talent and should benefit massively from playing in the Broncos offense with Peyton Manning. He has the flexibility to work from the slot or outside and the talent to come free on different routes or make plays with the ball in his hands. He is another matchup nightmare for Manning to work with.