Jags safety Rayshawn Jenkins speaks highly of several rookies

Jacksonville entered this offseason knowing it needed to do a lot of work on the secondary, which acted as a sieve last season and was one of the worst units in football. One player that is expected to play a major role in the turnaround in 2021 is Rayshawn Jenkins, a safety signee from the Los Angeles Chargers who should take over the starting strong safety spot.

Jenkins hasn’t been with the team long, but he’s starting to get a feel for the talent that’s on the roster, and that includes some of the rookies. Jenkins had high praise for a pair of rookies, including first-overall pick Trevor Lawrence, who he has to face in practice.

“[He has a] strong arm,” Jenkins said. “He can make all the throws that I can see right now and he’s more mobile than I thought as well too. Guys coming off the edge on those zone reads and stuff, you really need to be on your toes. That’s one thing I really noticed about him. He’s more mobile than I thought he was.”

Jenkins has seen firsthand how much a talented quarterback can change an offense. With the Chargers last season, he was witness to the meteoric rise of Rookie of the Year Justin Herbert. As another big passer with a very strong arm, Lawrence has naturally drawn some comparisons to Herbert.

According to Jenkins, the similarities between the two are apparent in practice.

“To me, they’re kind of similar,” he said. “They have a similar body type, length, and everything, they can make any throw you want them to and have the pocket presence. I feel like the similarities are there, but at the end of the day, he has to put it on the field, and we’ll see how it goes throughout the season.”

Jenkins also had positive things to say about the rookie who could very well be lining up opposite him in the defensive backfield. Andre Cisco enters training camp with some health concerns as he recovers from knee surgery, but the third-round pick was wildly productive at Syracuse when he could stay on the field.

If he’s healthy, he’s expected to compete for the starting free safety spot. And there’s some good news on that front for Jags fans, as Jenkins said that you wouldn’t have known Cisco was coming off knee surgery from watching him.

“I like the way he moves, especially coming off a knee injury being able to move like that,” Jenkins said. “I don’t know when he had surgery, but you wouldn’t be able to tell just from looking at him. Quick breaks, he’s really poised. He’s poised to be a young player. I remember coming in, I wasn’t as poised as him and I was telling him that. So, I’m just trying to stay in his ear just so he can kind of see where his game is compared to some of the other guys.”

Cisco still has a long way to go to earn a starting job, but it seems he’s made a good first impression on his teammates in the secondary. Considering he was a first-round prospect before his injuries, selecting Cisco in the third could end up being one of the best value pickups in the draft if he can stay healthy.

That remains to be seen, but fans should be encouraged by the early returns in practice.