When the Jacksonville Jaguars selected Alabama safety Ronnie Harrison in the third round of the NFL Draft in April, he seemed destined mainly for special-teams duty as a rookie.

Barry Church and Tashaun Gipson give the Jaguars a pair of five-year veterans at safety. But one of those veterans said it wouldn't surprise him if Harrison plays with the Jacksonville defense this season.

"I love Ronnie Harrison's game," Gipson said during a press conference at the Jaguars' training camp on Monday. "He's one of those guys who he truly can play both (safety) positions. I guess the knock on him coming out was he's a box safety, what not, he can't cover. I truly think that he's a unique player, and I think that somehow, some way Ronnie's going to be on the field. He's a good young player, especially when the game slows down for him. I don't know when that might be, but when the game slows down for him, you can tell that he gets it."

To get on the field, Harrison will need to break into one of the NFL's best defenses. The Jaguars gave up the fewest passing yards and yielded the second-fewest total yards in the league last season on their way to the AFC Championship Game.

But Gipson said Harrison came prepared to play.

"He understands football, and that's one of the things that you look at," Gipson said. "He knows how to play the game of football, and I don't know if you want to give Nick Saban all that credit. He's just genetically gifted. It's exciting to have young guys like that. It gives us depth. It's an exciting thing to be able to coach a guy like that up. But he's quiet; he don't talk much. But when he goes out there, he plays, and all he does is make plays."

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Gipson's praise of Harrison's football knowledge echoed what Jacksonville coach Doug Marrone said about the rookie during the Jaguars' offseason program.

"I think the thing that we're impressed with," Marrone said, "is that coming from the school that he came from, Alabama, and coach (Nick) Saban and his background being a defensive-backs coach, I don't think there's really anything you can throw at -- and not just Ronnie, but any of those defensive backs that played at Alabama -- there's not really anything you can throw at them coverage-wise and scheme-wise and even technique-wise that maybe they haven't seen before."

While a large dose of special-teams duty likely does lie ahead of Harrison during his rookie season with Church and Gipson in place, he might have been a future pick for Jacksonville.

In 2019, Gipson's base salary will rise to $7.25 million and he'll be due a roster bonus of $1 million. For Church, those figures will be $5.75 million and $500,000, respectively, next season. Jacksonville could release either of the players next year without owing them any money, and cutting Church wouldn't even put any dead money on the Jaguars' 2019 salary cap.

Jacksonville kicks off its four-game preseason schedule on Aug. 9 against the New Orleans Saints.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @AMarkG1.