On the Jacksonville Jaguars’ official Week 1 depth chart, there wasn’t an outright starter named at running back or linebacker.
At running back, the starting spot was listed as Travis Etienne or Tank Bigsby. At linebacker, it was Devin Lloyd or Ventrell Miller.
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With Etienne and Bigsby, this is hardly newsworthy. We knew that both backs would be utilized heavily, especially within Liam Coen’s offense. Bhayshul Tuten will be in that mix as well.
However, at the middle linebacker spot, this is more unconventional.
“They’re all going to play and get a bunch of reps,” Coen said of those four players. “Both linebackers are going to get a ton of reps and a ton of play. Both guys do some good things for us, and both do things differently than the other guy, so all four of those guys are going to play a ton.”
From the sounds of it, Lloyd and Miller’s playing time will be tailored based on the in-game situations that take place and matchups that the Jaguars want to find on Sunday, with, as Coen said, each player bringing something a bit different to the position.
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Lloyd is coming off a solid 2024 season, which included him making 106 of his 111 tackle attempts, and he was among PFF’s highest-graded linebackers in the run game.
In coverage, he allowed 11.6 yards per catch with one interception and one pass breakup.
Miller was a third-round pick by the Jaguars in 2023. In his second season, he would play 482 snaps, which included making 71 out of 88 tackle attempts with two pass breakups on 32 targets in coverage.
The middle linebacker is often the quarterback of the defense, relaying the play calls to everyone, making sure everyone is set, along with calling out any pre-snap adjustments.
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Perhaps this is an instance where one of the linebackers sees their snaps come mostly during obvious running situations and the other during obvious passing situations.
Alongside either Miller or Lloyd will be Foye Oluokun and/or Dennis Gardeck, depending on whether the Jaguars have two or three linebackers on the field.
This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: Jaguars vs. Panthers: Devin Lloyd, Ventrell Miller rotating at LB