The preseason may be winding down for the Jacksonville Jaguars, but the competition at the safety position is still very much ongoing.
We can assume that Eric Murray will be at one of the starting safety spots, but who will be lining up next to him has been the big question at this position throughout the offseason.
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Based on playing time in practices and in games, it looks like Andrew Wingard has the upper hand, but as defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile described recently, Darnell Savage and Antonio Johnson are in the mix for those snaps as well.
Rookie Rayuan Lane has flashed on defense recently and been a core special teams contributor in preseason games. Caleb Ransaw remains sidelined with an injury. Liam Coen recently called him week to week.
“No, those guys are still competing,” Campanile said of the safety position. “So this joint practice will be great for that. For us to see some stuff there, and this game will be great for us to see some stuff there, hopefully. But we feel, like I said last time, a lot of these guys have done a good job. Sav’s done a good job. Antonio’s done a good job. I thought Caleb, before he got hurt, was doing a really good job. Rayuan showed up a bunch, so he’s doing a good job as well, developing. Like I said last time too, we’re going to keep the competition live all the time and just got a little bit more to see here in camp.”
Of course, Campanile is looking for reliability. Who can best put the “safe” in safety?
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But this is a defensive scheme where versatility on the back end is coveted as well–players who can play deep, play in the box, and maybe even in the nickel at times. So whoever brings the most well-rounded skill set to the position could be a differentiator as well.
As we’ve seen during the preseason and in practices, we can also anticipate more three-safety looks under Campanile.
From the sounds of it, while the Jaguars will have a starter on paper come Week 1, this competition could extend into the regular season. In Campanile’s malleable defensive scheme, we could see the weekly matchups and dictate what playing time next to Murray looks like.
This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: Jaguars preseason: Campanile on safety competition; who has advantage?