Predicting winners of 6 Jaguars' positional battles after minicamp

With minicamp having wrapped up for the Jacksonville Jaguars this past week, let’s make some still way-too-early predictions about key positional battles that are taking place.

These three minicamp practices, along with the previous weeks’ OTA practices, provide us with some valuable insights into where things may stand for the time being and which players have established a strong foundation going into training camp in late July.

That said, nothing will be decided in minicamp. Ultimately, what takes place during training camp and in the preseason will carry a lot more weight.

But given what we know right now, let’s project the winner of these camp competitions.

As we’ve said all offseason, both players will factor heavily into the offense this season, but someone has to be RB1 on paper. With Rodriguez sidelined with a foot injury, Tuten shouldered that workload during minicamp and perhaps takes an early edge into training camp.

From the sounds of it, Nate Boerkircher and Tanner Koziol have looked the part during offseason programs. The Jaguars believe that Boerkircher brings a well-rounded skill set to the position, while Koziol is more of a pass-catching threat. Both rookies could jump the veterans, Quintin Morris and Hunter Long, on the depth chart.

Along the interior, we’ve seen the Jaguars draft Wyatt Milum, Jonah Monheim, and Emmanuel Pregnon over the last two years, potentially creating competition inside. That said, I still expect Ezra Cleveland, Robert Hainsey, and Patrick Mekari to start, with their experience being a key differentiator.

For now, my guess is that Wesley Williams and Danny Striggow end up holding the next two spots on the depth chart. Williams brings a well-rounded skill set, and as a fourth-round pick, I expect him to be given opportunities to make an impact. Striggow, meanwhile, has more experience than Zach Durfee, and he out-snapped BJ Green last year on defense.

The starting spot next to Foye Oluokun is Ventrell Miller’s for the taking.

By all accounts, Ransaw has performed well this offseason since returning to the field. The third safety in Anthony Campanile’s defense ends up seeing quite a bit of playing time.