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‘Best football ahead of me’: TE Brenton Strange excited to join Doug Pederson, Jaguars
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- ‘Best football ahead of me’: TE Brenton Strange excited to join Doug Pederson, Jaguars
Penn State tight end Brenton Strange was a little surprised.
Not because of his draft position. But it was the team that selected him that caught him a little off guard.
"Yeah, I expected to go in the second round, third round range, but nah, I didn't know about the Jaguars at all," he said during a zoom call after he was drafted. "Didn't talk to them much, so it's a blessing to be on this team."
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The Jaguars traded down for the second night in a row to select the redshirt junior from Happy Valley.
The sent pick No. 56 to the Chicago Bears for picks No. 61 and No. 136.
It was at 61 where they took Strange, who had 755 receiving yards on 70 catches and 11 touchdowns in his career, including 32 receptions, 362 yards and five touchdowns in 2022.
He started in 13 games last season for the Nittany Lions, finishing third on the team in receptions and becoming a sure-handed target.
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"We didn't have any interviews, anything, so I didn't have anything with them, and it was a surprising when I got the call, but I'm thankful to be a part of this team," he said. "It's a great team, a lot of great players. Looking forward to getting to work with them."
Strange fills a need for the Jaguars with Evan Engram being franchised tagged earlier in the offseason. Engram and the Jaguars have yet to reach an agreement on a new contract.
The team lost Chris Manhertz to free agency and Dan Arnold , who remains unsigned.
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Luke Farrell and Gerrit Prince are the only tight ends under contract for Jacksonville as the team nears OTAs and mandatory minicamp. But the newest addition looks forward to working with Engram when he does return to the team.
During his brief telecall, Strange mentioned Jaguars' players Trevor Lawrence , Calvin Ridley in addition to Engram, saying they were great players who he was excited to play with. He even said was excited to work with head coach Doug Pederson, noting his work with tight ends and finding creative ways to use them.
"I didn't talk to Jacksonville at all, so it was a big surprise for me. But when I saw Jacksonville's number, I knew that coach uses the tight ends just from watching him and that everywhere he's been, he's had some great tight ends and he knows how to use them," Strange said. "So, I'm very excited, especially to learn from a guy like Evan Engram . I've been watching him since college, takes bits and pieces from his game. He's a great player, so I'm excited to get to work with the coaches, with the players, everybody."
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When asked about the minimal communication with Strange, Jaguars' general manager Trent Baalke said the Jaguars did their homework.
"We had a lot of intel and sometimes you just don't want to leave a paper trail," Baalke said. "We got a lot of information on young guys and everything. Checks out all the boxes, checked out. Everyone you talk to says the same thing about him. Again, a culture fit … just a guy that really plays the game the way we want to play it."
Doug Pederson excited to have another tight end in his arsenal
Ahead of the draft, Doug Pederson was asked if he'd grown tired of the reputation he has as a tight end friendly coach. But Pederson has embraced the relationship he has with the position group.
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He noted that even in his playing days with the Green Bay Packers he had dependable tight ends. Now, he has another tight end in his arsenal.
"I think the history of the tight ends I've had, whether in Philly and obviously my career, going back to Green Bay being around good tight ends and being on offenses that have had good tight ends, it's an integral part of the offense," Pederson said after the third round concluded.
"You know become very versatile with multiple tight ends and guys that are athletic and guys that you can move around and create the matchups if you want," he continued. "I think players like Strange can see that. They see those opportunities and they get excited about that."
Pederson labeled Strange as a ready-made player for the Jaguars and Strange said he was even more excited to come to Jacksonville because of the way Pederson uses tight ends.
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It's a match made in draft heaven and Strange already has trained his eyes to helping improve the Jaguars any way he can.
"I don't think it could have been a better place for me … Coach knows how to use the tight end, so I'm very excited to do that," Strange said. "I believe they got Calvin Ridley, so it's an up and coming team. I can't wait to contribute and help make plays and get us to that step closer to the Super Bowl and win games and be a playmaker, be a difference maker for this team."
Juston Lewis is a sports reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on Twitter at @JustonLewis_ .
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: NFL Draft 2023: Brenton Strange picked by Jaguars in second round
