JACKSONVILLE — Jaguars rookie safety Jalen Huskey, the No. 100 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, wrapped up the three-day rookie minicamp at the Miller Electric Center this weekend, spending his 23rd birthday on the practice field and signaling he intends to compete immediately for playing time.
“I play with a chip on my shoulder,” Huskey said. “I feel like my entire life I’ve been a little overlooked or a little overshadowed — and I can show that I can produce too.”
The 6-foot-2, 201-pound third-round selection was the fourth player drafted by Jacksonville in the 2026 class. A cornerback convert who switched to safety at Maryland, Huskey finished his collegiate career with 11 interceptions and 10 passes defensed across stints at Bowling Green (2022-2023) and Maryland (2024-2025). He recorded four interceptions in 12 games last season, tying for fourth in the Big Ten and ranking 16th nationally, earning a 2025 second-team All-Big Ten selection. He was a first-team All-MAC pick in 2023 after posting four interceptions at Bowling Green.
Head Coach Liam Coen said Huskey fits a deliberate roster-building strategy that prizes versatile defensive backs who can match up across formations. “That big skill that can play maybe at the safety position, drop down to the big nickel, play some dime WILL, that’s important to us,” Coen said. “It has been important to us really before all these trends kind of started, was that multiplicity and ability to play different positions.”
Coen added that longer athletes at defensive back also provide value on special teams, matching up against tight ends and linebacker-type bodies. The cornerback-to-safety pipeline is becoming a pattern in Jacksonville under Coen and defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile. Second-year veteran Caleb Ransaw was a collegiate cornerback projected as a full-time NFL safety, and veteran Eric Murray made the same transition after playing cornerback at Minnesota.
Huskey said his cornerback background gives him confidence covering every offensive skill position. “I’m super confident whether I’m guarding a tight end or receiver or even a running back. It doesn’t really matter to me,” he said. “At every single stop I produced, and it’s not going to stop because I’m in the NFL. I plan to come here and be a great football player.”
The Jaguars’ 2026 schedule is set to be announced Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ET, with single-game tickets going on sale at the same time.