The Jacksonville Jaguars added to an already stout defense by drafting Florida's Taven Bryan with the 29th overall pick in the first round of
the NFL draft Thursday night.
Selecting Bryan had more to do with potential than production.
The defensive tackle had 67 tackles
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including 5 ? sacks, in three seasons with the Gators. He was a 6-foot-4,
291-pound enigma his first two years in Gainesville, but came on as a junior in
2017. He had 40 tackles last season, including six for loss and four sacks,
while playing solely inside.
He really played well down the stretch, showing a quick first step and the ability to disrupt offenses. Although he never took over a game, he routinely
demanded double teams on a defense that lacked depth and talent up front.
Jaguars top executive Tom Coughlin said Bryan has energy and enthusiasm to go along with play-making ability.
"He's powerful," Coughlin said. "He gets off on the snap. He can cause problems."
The Jaguars believe Bryan is just getting started
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He likely won't have to do much in his first season since the Jaguars are loaded up front. They have All-Pro defensive end Calais Campbell along with Pro
Bowl defensive tackle Malik Jackson and Pro Bowl defensive end Yannick Ngakoue.
Jacksonville ranked second in the league with 55 sacks in 2017.
"They're definitely good at what they do," Bryan said. "I'll just try to come in and learn from them."
General manager Dave Caldwell said Bryan was the last of four players the team had identified as potential picks at No. 29. And they had no problem adding
to the D-line.
"At that position, the more depth you have, the better off you'll be," Caldwell said.
Bryan admittedly took his football talent for granted early in his college career. He realized he was blessed physically, but he never thought much about
it. He would casually talk about bench-pressing 450 pounds or squatting more
than 600 pounds.
Teammates raved about his work ethic and weight-room feats.
So no one at Florida was surprised to see Bryan raise eyebrows at the NFL combine in March.
He covered the 40-yard dash in 4.98 seconds, one of five defensive tackles to break the 5-second mark, and benched-pressed 225 pounds 30 times. He topped all
defensive tackles in the vertical jump (35 inches), the broad jump (9
feet
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20-yard shuttle (4.48 seconds).
Bryan grew up in Casper, Wyoming, as the son of a Navy SEAL. Bryan often tagged along with his dad to build houses. When they weren't swinging hammers or
pouring concrete, they were hunting, fishing and exploring mountain ranges and
the high plains.
Football took over Bryan's life as a teenager, eventually turning him into a big-time recruit from the Cowboy State. He ended up 1,600 miles away in
Gainesville. He didn't become a started until his junior year.
"You can understand why," Caldwell said. "He had a lot of talented players in front of."
Marco Gonzales was looking for some retribution against the Kansas City Royals.
Gonzales (8-5) pitched a six-hitter for his first career complete game in the Seattle Mariners‘ 4-1 victory on Friday. The left-hander struck out seven and
didn’t issue a walk while throwing just 96 pitches.
”My last outing against these guys didn’t go great – my second start of the year
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I think – so I was looking for some payback, too. So I was a little more amped
than usual,” Gonzales said.
Mitch Haniger and Mike Zunino homered for Seattle.
Gonzales had been chased after just 2 1/3 innings of what became a 10-0 loss on April 9, but Friday’s start was much different. Gonzalez, who’d never taken a
game into the eighth inning until going 7 1/3 innings against Tampa Bay earlier
this month, didn’t need more than 13 pitches to finish any inning against the
Royals.
”He has a lot of confidence right now because everything that’s happened to him this year, he’s earned,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said.
Whit Merrifield singled to lead off the game and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Rosell Herrera. Gonzales picked Merrifield off second base to
erase the baserunner and would retire nine straight batters before running into
a spot of trouble in the fourth.
Herrera doubled off the glove of left fielder Denard Span with one out. An infield single from Mike Moustakas put runners on the corners, but Gonzales
induced an inning-ending double play from Salvador Perez to keep the Royals off
the board.
”The way that we’ve been playing and the fun that we’ve been having
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”To be able to go out there and contribute in a positive way and have these guys
rally behind you is pretty incredible.”
Royals starter Ian Kennedy (1-8) retired the first 10 batters he faced before running into trouble in the fourth. Jean Segura reached on an infield single to
give Seattle its first baserunner of the game. Haniger followed with a two-run
blast over the center-field wall to give the Mariners a 2-0 lead.
After fouling off three straight pitches with a 2-2 count, Zunino blasted a solo home run two rows from the top of the upper deck in left field to extend
the Mariners’ lead to 3-0 in the fifth.
Kennedy left after five innings due to tightness in his left side that surfaced on the last pitch to Zunino.
”I felt it grab,” Kennedy said. ”And then the rest of the inning it stayed tight. The last couple pitches I was compensating for it, so I knew … the right
thing to do is to say something.”
Segura added a two-out RBI single in the seventh inning off Brandon Maurer to give Seattle a 4-0 advantage.
Adalberto Mondesi doubled to open the ninth and Moustakas delivered a two-out single to center field to drive home the only run of the game for the
Royals.
BONIFACIO RETURNS
Outfielder Jorge Bonifacio was recalled and back in the lineup for the Royals on Friday after completing an 80-game suspension for testing positive for a
performance-enhancing drug. Bonifacio was suspended in March after testing
positive for Boldenone, which is an anabolic androgenic steroid. Bonifacio
started the game in left field and went 0 for 3 with a strikeout. He hit .255
with 17 home runs and 40 RBIs in 113 games as a rookie in 2017. OF Ryan Goins
was designated for assignment on Thursday to clear a roster spot. ”It was a
tough time down there in Arizona. But I learned from it. It’s never going to
happen again,” Bonifacio said.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Royals: C Perez was back in the lineup after exiting Wednesday’s game in Milwaukee in the ninth inning after taking a foul ball off his right leg.
Mariners: 3B Kyle Seager was back in the lineup after making only a pinch-hit appearance in Baltimore on Sunday. Seager has an ”avulsion fracture” in his big
toe and was given the day off in the field to rest. It’s not expected to require
a disabled list stint and Seager is planning to play through the injury.
UP NEXT
Royals: RHP Jason Hammel (2-9) will make his 17th start of the season on Saturday. Hammel has lost four straight starts and has allowed at least three
earned runs in three of the four outings.
Mariners: RHP Felix Hernandez (7-6) will take the hill for the 18th time this season as he looks to continue a run of strong starts. After a rough first two
months of the season, Hernandez has allowed just one earned run in three of his
five starts in
June.
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