Myles Jack, perhaps even more than Jalen Ramsey, was the reason for a lot of excitement about the Jacksonville Jaguars' 2016 draft. Ramsey is the sort of talent one expects to draft with the fifth overall pick. Jack, however, was a consensus top-10 talent and was not expected to be available anywhere near the top of the second round where the Jaguars traded up to select him.

The reason is simple: a degenerative knee issue that could possibly shorten his career.

However, he was expected to be perfectly healthy to start his career and his selection lead to much rejoicing and the sought-after "A" draft grades from experts everywhere. He then went on to do just about nothing in his rookie year.

While he may have adjusted to the NFL a little slower than prognosticators expected and Jaguars fans hoped, I would argue his lack of first-year impact was more due to situation than any fault of Jack's. One might (and I would) argue that our two best defensive players last year were our other two linebackers, Telvin Smith and Paul Posluszny.

The Jaguars understandably wanted both on the field as much as possible, pushing Myles to the strong-side linebacker role in the "base" defense. I use base in quotations because we only played that formation roughly 30% of the time, limiting his snaps. He also shared some snaps with Dan Skuta, who despite his limitations is a better pass rusher than Myles Jack. The combination of these factors led to Jack only playing 239 defensive snaps out of more than 1000.

In 2017 that will change. Posluszny and Jack will switch positions, moving Jack to the middle linebacker spot which is a better fit for his skill set and will likely see him playing close to every down. How he does in his increased role will go a long way towards determining the success of the Jaguars defense in 2017. He may not have played many snaps in 2016, but there is enough to judge his skillset, seeing where his strengths lie and what he has to work on. I've gathered ten plays over three games -- Week 4 vs. Indianapolis, Week 12 at Buffalo, Week 17 at Indianapolis -- to try and give a snapshot of Jack as he stands right now.

Week 4 vs. Indianapolis Colts (23 snaps, 11 passing, 12 rushing)

The first play is an up-and-down one from Jack.

First, I would classify this as falling for the play action. However, no harm comes of it and he drops back into his zone responsibilities. Luck completes a short pass to Jack Doyle, and Myles Jack does a nice job of making an open-field stop on a pretty good receiving tight end in the open field, limiting him to just a short gain.

The second play is a good look for Jack. He's covering Frank Gore in the flat. Luck tries to complete a short pass, hoping for some run after the catch, but Jack has none of that. He makes a quick break on the play and lays an explosive hit on Gore, dislodging the ball and forcing the pass incomplete.

Even if it had been complete it would have been for only a one-yard gain.

Taking on blockers is a part of Jack's game that he has to work on, but he has his good snaps like this. Dwayne Allen is a solid blocking tight end but Myles Jack just rides him to the ball-carrier and stops Gore for a short gain. Jack gets carried for some extra yardage but don't ding him for that -- he's taking on both Allen and Gore at the same time.

This one is a warning sign. Jack over-pursues and is made to look un-athletic by a 33-year-old Frank Gore with a cutback in the open field. Gore runs for a big gain. To Jack's credit he does a nice job of running the play down from behind. Gore isn't the speediest running back at this point in his career but it's another point towards Jack's athleticism.

Week 12 @ Buffalo Bills (30 snaps, 21 rushing, 9 passing)

Jack has some trouble with blockers but again you don't see that here. He is challenged by the right guard pulling to the outside and just obliterates him. Jack ruins any possibility of McCoy bouncing this play outside and the rest of the defense does their job, blowing up the play in the backfield.

Jack drops into coverage here, then sees Tyrod Taylor running out of the pocket. To put this play into proper context, remember that Tyrod Taylor is both one of the most effective running quarterbacks as well as one of the best athletes.

At the combine Taylor was 6'1" 217, ran a 4.52 40, jumped 37.5" and 10'6", with a 4.09 shuttle and a 6.78 3-cone. If a receiver or a cornerback put up those times I'd go "HELL YEAH!" but it's especially rare athleticism for a quarterback. Not only does Jack track Taylor down in the open field but he makes it look easy.

As I've mentioned, Jack can have trouble taking on blockers. I cut out some plays showing this and in hindsight I wished I had kept one or two more to make the point better, as it really is a re-occurring problem that I don't think I've highlighted very well.

Here is Jack getting taken out in the open field by the fullback, leading to an easy touchdown run for McCoy.

This play is just a mess all around. Similar to the Frank Gore play earlier, Jack overpursues leaving the cutback lane open and McCoy runs for a 75 yard touchdown.

Yes, Gipson and Ramsey both could've made a tackle here but that's no defense for whatever Jack thinks he's doing. When McCoy makes his initial cut and is already going the other direction, Jack is still running parallel to the line of scrimmage with no idea where the ball is.

By the time he changes direction he is standing right next to Posluszny which I feel confident in saying is NOT where he is supposed to be. Poor gap responsibility to say the least.

Week 17 @ Indianapolis Colts (30 snaps, 16 passing, 14 rushing)

This was not a very eventful game for Jack but here are a couple of plays showing off his coverage abilities. In this play he and Ramsey are out in zone coverage lining up against Jack Doyle and T.Y. Hilton. Doyle runs a deep out taking Ramsey with him.

That leaves Jack, a rookie linebacker, to deal with the Colts' best receiver. Luck identifies the mismatch and likely thinks he has an easy short completion with the possibility of Hilton making Jack miss and going for more yardage. Jack doesn't see it that way. Similar to the play on Frank Gore earlier, Jack puts a nice hit on Hilton forcing the incomplete pass.

PFF credits Jack with only 82 snaps in pass defense all year, 36 of which came in these three games, so there aren't a lot of opportunities to see Jack tested in coverage. Here you can see what he may look like having to cover NFL tight ends next year. He doesn't get much of a jam on Jack Doyle but does get his hands on him and stays in his hip pocket the whole way. If Luck threw to his tight end Jack would've had a great chance of making a play on the ball. Instead Luck is forced into an ineffective run that is called back for holding.

Conclusion

Based on these three games I'd say Jack has some well-defined strengths and weaknesses. First of all, his athleticism is all it's cracked up to be. My man jumped 40" vertically and 10'4" in the broad jump at 245 pounds. If he ran a 40 he certainly would've been at least in the 4.5s with a chance at hitting the 4.4s.

Jack is quite simply one of the most athletic linebackers in the NFL and I believe that athleticism is on display in some of these plays. This athleticism will allow him to run sideline to sideline and match up with any ballcarrier in the open field. Also it means he can match up with any tight end or running back in the league and have tremendous range in coverage.

He's also a very strong tackler. In the three games there isn't a snap that I would qualify as a missed tackle. He consistently makes strong, forceful, solid tackles. In these plays you can see him making solid open field tackles against quality NFL athletes as well as making explosive hits to force some incomplete passes.

Jack's recognition could use some work, as you would expect from a rookie linebacker. He had a tendency to fall for play action as well as overpursue in the running game.

In addition he had his struggles when blockers got their hands on him. That is one area the move to middle linebacker may help him. He'll have more room to maneuver rather than lining up directly against a tight end or tackle. In addition he'll have Malik Jackson, Abry Jones, and Calais Campbell doing their best to keep him clean.

Lastly, his size and athleticism gives him room to improve against blockers. Telvin Smith may never be able to be a thumper, but Jack can.

One other thing that Jack is unlikely to excel at is pass rushing. He wasn't a pass rusher in college and he wasn't in his rookie year in the NFL. In these three games there was one play I would classify as a pass rush and it was ineffective. It just isn't a part of his game right now. If he does get through on a blitz, quarterbacks will have a hard time getting away.

Overall, as Jaguars fan, I think you have to be optimistic about what Jack will bring to the middle linebacker position this year. With his potential in coverage and as a run defender I expect him to be a capable long-term replacement for Posluszny, and possibly an upgrade.