Part of the reason the Jacksonville Jaguars selected Kentucky edge rusher Josh Allen was because of his leadership abilities, which are already starting to show Day 1 into rookie minicamp. After answering questions from the local media, Allen then waited for the player drafted after him in offensive tackle Jawaan Taylor, to chat and walk into the locker room together.
Many will say it’s no big deal, but the minor interaction shows that Allen really wants to build a bond with Taylor, who is also expected to be a future leader of the team, too. Both have history coming from the Southeastern Conference and have battle each other on multiple occasions. Throughout those battles, the two evidently developed a great deal of respect for each other, which Taylor discussed with the Florida Times-Union.
″Josh was the best I went against,″ said Taylor. ″He made me better. Now I’m happy to be teammates with him. We get to get each other better every single day. I’m happy to have Josh here.”
Allen and Taylor will continue to see more of each other this summer with two more days of rookie minicamp, offseason training sessions and training camp still ahead. Hopefully, throughout those events their bond will grow stronger as the Jags will need new leaders with Calais Campbell aging, Telvin Smith’s future in the air and the salary cap bound to make the team move on from several other veterans.
