Former UF defensive tackle Taven Bryan is sticking close to home.
With the 29th selection in Thursday's NFL draft, the Jacksonville Jaguars selected Bryan to join one of the league's top defenses.
Bryan's selection extended the Gators' streak of first-round draft picks to six years and gives the Jags one of the most intriguing prospects in the 2018 draft class.
Few players available possess Bryan's physical gifts.
On ESPN's telecast of the draft's first round, analyst Mel Kiper Jr. compared Bryan's ability with that of Houston Texan J.J. Watt, a three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit said Bryan looks like he should a perennial Pro Bowler but that he disappeared too often in games during his college career.
Bryan certainly was drafted for his potential more than his production during three seasons at UF.
Bryan managed just 67 tackles at UF, culminating with a solid redshirt junior season featuring 40 stops, including six for loss.
But Bryan was in a class of his own at the NFL Scouting Combine last month in Indianapolis.
The 6-foot-5, 291-pound Bryan ran the 40-yard dash in 4.98 seconds and benched-pressed 225 pounds 30 times. No DT performed better in the vertical jump (35 inches), broad jump (9 feet, 11 inches), three-cone drill (7.12 seconds) and 20-yard shuttle run (4.48 seconds).
Bryan was at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, for Thursday's draft. The 22-year-old arrived wearing a gray and blue plaid sport coat, white dress shirt and baby blue tie, with Bose headphones wrapped around his neck.
When his named was called, the native of Casper, Wyo., let out a sigh of relief before heading onstage to shake the hand of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
